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ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



PLATE XI 




SPECIMENS OF FLINT JACK'S FORGERIES IN IHE ROYAL SCOTTISH 
MUSEUM, EDINBURGH 

THE IRON ROD ON THE LEFT IS THE TOOL HE GENERALLY USED FOR CHIPPING FLINIS 



ARCHAEOLOGY 
AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



BY 

ROBERT MUNRO 

M.A., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A. Scot. 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 



PHILADELPHIA 
GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. 

PUBLISHERS 






MAY 29 vm 



CONTENTS 



Preface . . . . . . . . xi 

CHAPTER I 

PROLEGOMENA 

Introductory — The speciality of man's works — The materials of archae- 
ology — Archaeological deductions and chronolog"y — False antiqui- 
ties — Explanatory . . . ... 1-29 

CHAPTER II 

FORGED OR FALSE ANTIQUITIES IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE 
EUROPEAN CONTINENT 

The Moulin-Quig-non jaw — Falsification of antiquities in France — 
M. W. Wavre on the falsification of Lacustrine antiquities — Forged 
objects from the Kesslerloch Cave, near Constance — The Breonio 
controversy (Italy) — Strange objects from the Caves of Mnikow, 
near Cracow — The Stone Age station of Vol6sova . . 30-So 

CHAPTER III 

TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 

Preliminary remarks on the antiquity of man in North America — Dr. 
Koch on man and the mastodon — Dr. Wright on the antiquity 
of the Calaveras skull, etc. — Professor Holmes' review of the 
evidence relating to auriferous gravel man in California — The 
Neale mortar and pestle, etc. — The King pestle said to have been 
found in sitti in hard auriferous gravel — ^Striking similarity between 
the worked objects from the gravels and those of recent Indian 
tribes — Reasons for the opinion that the worked objects from the 
Californian gravels, as well as the Calaveras skull, are modern 81-109 

CHAPTER IV 

THE FORGERY OF ANTIQUITIES IN THE BRITISH ISLES 

The story of "Flint Jack" — Forged implements of flint in Reading 
Museum — Mr. Worthington G. Smith on forgeries at Stoke New- 
ington — The " Billy and Charley" impostures — Forgery of antiqui- 
ties in Ireland — False antiquities in the Edinburgh Museum — 
Descriptive notices of the excavations at Dunbuie, Dumbuck, and 
Langbank . . . . . '^. 1 10-148 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY PAGE 

The development of the Clyde controversy — First statement throwing- 
doubts on the g-enuineness of certain objects from Dumbuck 
(January 7th, 1899) — ^Reception given to the discoveries at Dum- 
buck by Glasg^ow Archseolog^ical Society, British Archseological 
Association, and Society of Antiquaries of Scotland — Other opinions 
on the Dumbuck relics (Messrs. J. Romill}' Allen, Charles Hercules 
Read, and Professor Boyd Dawkins) . . . 149-180 

CHAPTER VI 

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AT DUNBUIE, DUMBUCK, AND 
LANGBANK, INDEPENDENT OF THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 

No evidence that the hill-fort of Dunbuie is older than the ordinary 
Broch period — Strong- evidence that the Dumbuck structure and its 
associated relics belong; to the Iron Ag^e — Sugfgfcstion that it was a 
fish-bothy of the twelfth century — Analogfy between certain relics 
from Langbank and those of the "Late Celtic" period — Ultimate 
conclusion that the three sites were inhabited in post-Roman times, 
possibly ranging- from 400 A.D. to the twelfth century . . 181-220 

CHAPTER VII 

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE DISPUTED OBJECTS FROM 
DUNBUIE, DUMBUCK, AND LANGBANK 

Objects like weapons or implements, being made of soft slate or shale, 
were unfit for any practical use, and unnecessary in the Iron Ag-e 
— Dr. David Murray's views on this point discussed — Not to be 
paralleled with the "Arctic Group" from Scandinavia — The theory, 
that the amulets, idols, and totems of modern savag-es are to throw 
lig-ht on the shale pendants and gfrotesque human fig-ures of the 
Clyde, rejected — Mr. Andrew Langf's view, that the art of the Clyde 
idolaters resembles that of "the early Glasg-ow school," unsup- 
ported by evidence — The sugfg-estion, that the g-rotesque human 
faces were of Roman origin, refuted by Mr. Lang- — The survival 
theory and symbolism reviewed — Mr. Lang-'s "missing- link" — 
Inferences from the g-eneral fades and technique of the Clyde Art 
Gallery . . . . . . 221-265 

CHAPTER VIII 

GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 

Lessons to be derived from the story of false antiquities — No specific 
rules for detecting- modern forg-eries — Training- and experience 
essential to the successful study of archaeolog-y — Plea for systematic 
instruction in archasolog-y . . . . . 266-283 

Index . . . . . ... 285 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 

FIG. PAGE 

1. Outline of human lower jaw of Moulin-Quig-non. After De 

Quatrefages (Honimes Sauvages, p. lo) . . . .32 

2. Spy jaw. After Fraipont {Archives de Biologie, vol. vii. PI. XIX. 

Fig-. 2) . . ^ . - ■ . . 36 

3. Naulette jaw. After Dupont {Les Temps Prdhistoriques en 

Belgigue, p. 100) . . . • • • 37 
4 to 6. Forgeries from the Grotte dti Chauffaud and Beauvais. 

L'Homme, 1885, pp. 515, 517 . . . . 38-40 

7 and 8. Bone plaque with elephants. Matiriaicx, vol. ix. p. 34 . 41 

9 to II. Bone needles and pin. L'Homme, 1886, p. 30 . . .43 

12 and 13. Forg-eries from Kesslerloch Cave. Excavations at the 

Kesslerloch, by Conrad Merk, PI. XV. Figs. 98 and 99 . • 5^ 

14. Flint arrow-head. Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana, vol. xi. 

PI. IV. . . . . • • • 57 

15. " Ascia lunata. " Ibid., vol. vii. PI. II. Fig-. 6 . . . 58 
16 and 17. Forms of flint objects from Breonio. L'Ho?n7ne, 1886, 

P- 579 • ■ • • ... 68 

18 and 19. Knife and fork of bone from Mnikow. Ibid., 1884, p. 109 72 
20. Flint objects from Russia. After Ouvdrofif (Stone Age in Russia) 74 
21 to 27. Stone objects from Vol6sova. Congres International, 

Moscow, 1892, pp. 248-9 . . ... 76-9 

28. Flint arrow-point, said to have been found by Dr. Koch below the 

femur of a mastodon. Ibid., Paris, 1900, p. 155 . . . 85 

29 and 30. Lenape stone. Ibid., pp. 175-6 . ... 87-8 

31 and 32. The Clarence King- pestle and a modern specimen. Stnith- 

sonian Institution Report, 1899, p. 454, PI. XIV. . . .104 

33. " Tracked stone " from Luing- Fort . ... 185 

34. Ditto from the Dumbuck " crannog- " . ... 189 

35. Comb from "Gheg-an Rock" and other objects associated with it. 

Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. viii. p. 375 . ... 196 

36. Bronze plaque from an Ang-lo-Saxon g-rave at Barlaston. Grave 

Mounds, Fig-. 435 . . . . . . 201 

37. A bronze plaque from a barrow at Middleton Moor, Derbyshire. 

Ibid., Fig-. 436 . . . ... 202 



viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE 

38 to 44. Specimens of inscribed bones found in a cairn at Lough- 
crew, Co. Meath, Ireland. Conwell, Tomb of Ollamh Fodhla, 
PP- 54. 55 • • • • • • 206-8 

45. Bronze penannular brooch from London. Price's Roman Anii- 

qicities, PI. VI I L Fig-. 7 . . . . . 215 

46. Ditto, from Woodcuts. Pitt-Rivers' Excavations, etc., vol. i. , 

PI. XVI. Fig. 10 . . . ... 215 

47. Ditto, from Broch of Okstrow. Proc, S. A. Scot., xi, p. 85 . . 215 

48. Ditto, from Wilderspool, Cheshire. Watkins' Rom,an Cheshire, 

p. 265 . . . . . . . 216 

49. Ditto, from Livonia, Russia. After Baron de Baye {Industrial 

Arts of the Anglo-Saxons, p. 59) . ... 216 

50 to 54. Grotesque images of shale and shell from Dumbuck and 

Dunbuie . . . . . . 231-4 

55 to 59. Inscribed slates from the Church of St. Blane, Bute. Proc. 

S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiv. . . . . 235-9 

60 and 61. "Churinga" from Australia. Spencer and Gillen, The 

Native Tribes of Central Australia . ... 247 

62. Churinga from Australia. Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiv. p. 136 . 248 

63. Water-worn piece of clay slate, ornamented, from Dunbuie . . 249 



PLAN 

Sketch plan of Dumbuck " Crannog " . ... 143 



LIST OF PLATES 

XI. Specimens of Flint Jack's forgeries in the Royal Scottish 
Museum, Edinburgh. From a photograph by the Curator of 
the Museum .... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

I. The mammoth of La Madeleine. E. Lartet (Comptes-rendus 

de V Acaddmie des Sciences, vol. Ixi.) . . . . 38 

II. and III. Forgeries of the "Age de la Corne." Reduced from 

illustrations by W. Wavre in Musde Neuchatelois, 1890 47 and 51 

IV. Flint implements of the type " ascia lunata. " Btdlettino di 

Paletnologia Italiana, xi. PI. V. . . . . 59 

V. and VI. Breonio flints. Ihid., xiv. PL VIII, and IX. . 63, 69 

VII. and VIII. The "Calaveras" skull said to have been found at 
the bottom of a mine 128 ft. in depth. Congrks International, 
Paris, 1900, pp. 160, 161 . . ... 96 

IX. Stone mortar and pestle found in a mine under a bed of lava in 

California. Ibid., p. 168 . . ... 100 

X. Mortars and other objects said to have been found in the 
auriferous gravels of California. Smithsonian Institution 
Report, 1899 • • • ... 107 

XII. Objects found at Langbank. Photographed from a large 
drawing by Mr. W. A. Donnelly in the Journal of the British 
Archceological Association for Apri], 1903 . . . 148 

XIII. Implements and weapons of slate and shale from Dumbuck 

and Dunbuie . . . ... 222 

XIV. Specimens of Stone Age objects from the north of Scandi- 

navia. After MM. Rygh and Montelius. Congres Inter- 
national, Stockholm, 1874, pp. 178-233 . ... 226 

XV. Objects (amulets?) of shale, etc., from Dumbuck . . . 228 

XVI. Objects from the hill-fort of Dunbuie. Nos. i to 12 are 
rough pieces of sandstone varying in size from a few inches 
to seven or eight, with cup-marks, lines, curves, etc. Nos. 13 
and 14 represent bones with linear incisions, as if they had 
been burnt into the bone. Nos. 15 to 17 are small stone 
ornaments here represented about half natural size. No. 18 
is a natural pebble with a cross scraped on it . . . 230 



LIST OF PLATES 



XVII. "Churinga," said to have been found at Dunbuie. Photo- 
graphed from Journal of the British Archceological Associa- 
tion, September, 1901, Fig". 4 . . . . . 246 

XVIII. The tiara of Sai'tapharnes recently proved to be a forg-er)^ 
From the Academic des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres {Comptes 
Rendus), i8g6, p. 140 . . . . . 278 



PREFACE 

r 

THIS volume owes its primary inception to the 
difference of opinion that has arisen with regard 
to certain archaic-like objects described as having 
been found on three prehistoric sites on the shores of 
the Clyde — some archaeologists accepting, and others 
rejecting, their claims to be regarded as relics of the 
people who formerly inhabited these sites. And here 
the matter seems to have come to a standstill. Not- 
withstanding the teaching and practical investigations 
of so many British Archaeological Societies, it would 
appear that antiquarian lore, even in the hands of ex- 
perts, is inadequate to distinguish between true and 
false antiquities ; and that relics of past civilisations have 
no evidential characteristics sufficiently marked to pre- 
vent them from being confounded with modern fabrica- 
tions. No wonder that, in these circumstances, the very 
existence of such a thing as scientific archaeology has 
been questioned. 

To help to solve the difficulties thus raised, without 
resorting to the tu quoqiie style of controversy, it was 
necessary to wander somewhat far afield, so as to prepare 
the minds of general readers for the melancholy fact that 



xii PREFACE 

there is a back wash, almost abreast with the progressive 
tide of human culture, in which the bacterial germs of 
imposture find a habitat, independently of all nationalities. 
During these wanderings one paramount object has been 
kept steadily in view, viz. to emphasise the real archceo- 
logical arguments involved in the various disputes, so as 
to enlist the intelligent reader's own judgment on the 
problems at issue. 

Such a work could not have been undertaken, with 
reasonable prospects of success, without utilising to a 
considerable extent the labours of other workers in the 
same field. On this point I have adhered to my usual 
practice of quoting, as far as practicable, the actual words 
of authors whose opinions are controverted, or approved, 
instead of compiling the substance of their views. All 
materials thus incorporated, either in the form of extract 
or illustration, are duly acknowledged — the former in the 
text, and the latter in the detailed list of illustrations. In 
addition to obligations on this score, I have to express 
special thanks to the following gentlemen : Mr. W. A. 
Donnelly and Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. scot., for having 
afforded me an opportunity of carefully inspecting the 
structural remains at Dumbuck and Langbank while 
the excavations were in progress ; the Council of the 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, for the use of the 
blocks of figures 35 and 55-9 ; and the Curator of 
the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, for the photo- 
graph from which Plate XI. has been made. 

In conclusion, it may be noted that by the publication 



PREFACE xiii 

of full descriptive details of the two submarine structures 
(Dumbuck and Langbank), and of their undisputed relics, 
I am enabled to give due prominence to their archseo- 
logical importance, as remains of what is virtually a new 
type among the early inhabited sites in Scotland. 

R. M. 



ARCHAEOLOGY 

r 

AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



CHAPTER I 
\^ PROLEGOMENA 

TO delineate the various phases of culture and civi- 
lisation through which mankind have successively 
passed during their long career on the globe, prior 
to historic times, is the main object of scientific archaeo- 
logy. The materials on which such an inquiry is 
founded consist of a number of objects showing evidence 
of human workmanship, either incidentally picked up 
along the haunts and byways of our primeval ancestors, 
or purposely searched for among the debris of their in- 
habited sites and sepulchres. For the correct interpretation 
of such remains archaeologists not only make use of the 
ordinary synthetical and analytic methods of research, but 
also cull from collateral sources whatever ascertained 
truths may be serviceable to their cause. Indeed, so wide 
and diversified is the field to which the arch^ological 
vision must extend that the investigator is constantly 
obliged to appeal to outside experts to assist in clearing 
up doubtful points. Before the investigator steps beyond 
the very threshold of this science he has to master a 
certain amount of linguistic attainments, which take up 

B 



2 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

no inconsiderable amount of time and energy ; for to deal 
with the archaeological phenomena of Western Europe 
alone, with any prospect of success, it is essential to be 
equipped with a knowledge of at least half a dozen foreign 
languages. To attempt, therefore, to convey to general 
readers a synopsis of the principles which underlie the 
technical qualifications necessary in dealing scientifically 
with a varied assortment of relics, collected from the dust- 
bins of peoples widely separated from each other in space 
and time, and too frequently influenced by fashions, 
traditions, and beliefs founded on ignorance and super- 
stition, would be as great a tour-de-force as if a judge, 
before giving his decision in a legal case, were called 
upon to explain the fundamental principles of our national 
code of laws. On the other hand, to ignore altogether 
the rationale of the methods by which archaeology is now 
studied, and to leave unmentioned certain conspicuous 
landmarks already established along the route, would be 
to deprive many of my readers of the means of intelli- 
gently following the discussions which form so large a 
portion of this volume. As a compromise in this dilemma 
I am placing before them, under the title of Prolegomena, 
a few selected sketches, which it is hoped may serve 
the double purpose of disclosing some of the legitimate 
methods and arguments by which archaeological deduc- 
tions are established, and of supplying valid reasons for 
suspecting certain objects to be false or forged because of 
their disharmony in the evolutionary sequence which 
characterises the works of man in all ages. 

In these sketches the primary and fundamental elements 
of civilisation, such as man's unique place in nature, the 
special means by which he holds his own in the struggle 
of life, his ever-advancing capacity for utilising the forces 
of nature, the progressiveness of his mechanical inven- 
tions, etc., are more particularly dealt with. After perusal 



PROLEGOMENA 3 

of the prolegomena readers will, perhaps, come to realise 
the force of the argument that it would be as unnecessary 
to disprove a statement, or an inference, which is shown 
to be inconsistent with well-established archaeological 
generalisations, as it would be to refute one which involved 
a contradiction of the^aw of gravitation. At this time of 
day the announcement of a discovery, which implied the 
contemporaneousness of relics of the Iron Age with those 
of the Palaeolithic period, would be as startling to an 
archceologist as a report of the discovery of a fossil mam- 
mal in the Silurian period would be to a geologist — state- 
ments which, if accepted as true, would be subversive of 
many of the doctrines hitherto taught under the cEgis of 
the sciences of archaeology and geology. 

I. THE SPECIALITY OF MAN'S WORKS 

Man is differentiated from all other animals by the fact 
that the means by which he has acquired his present com- 
manding position among them are, to a large extent, due 
to his superior intelligence and reasoning faculties. 
Neither in attack or defence, nor in the capture of his 
prey, nor in the execution of such mechanical processes 
as cutting, scraping, boring, etc., does he exclusively 
depend on the organs with which nature originally en- 
dowed him. In lieu of the specially developed teeth, 
claws, horns, hoofs, etc., used more or less for these 
purposes by other animals, man has provided himself 
with a relay of ingeniously constructed implements, 
weapons, and tools, through the instrumentality of which 
his life-functions are more efficiently performed. In fact, 
in this sense. Homo sapiens may be regarded as having 
rebelled against the stern decrees of Cosmic evolution ; for, 
from the very beginning of his career, he successfully 
claimed a share in the administration of the laws of the 
material world, more especially in so far as they affected 



4 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

his own well-being. The actual starting-point of this 
new departure was the attainment of the erect attitude, 
which, by finally effecting a delimitation of the original 
function of the fore-limbs to purely manipulative pro- 
cesses, enabled him henceforth to pilot his way through 
the world by manufacturing various tools and implements, 
by way of supplementing his natural means of offence and 
defence. Bipedal locomotion, which from that time be- 
came man's normal mode of progression, was of itself 
of little consequence, being a mere morphological adjust- 
ment of certain parts of the body, displaying, indeed, less 
mechanical ingenuity than many other well-known animal 
transformations, as, for example, the adaptability of the 
fore-limbs of the Pterodactyle to both prehensile and fly- 
ing purposes. The really important element thus intro- 
duced into the organic world was the use to which the 
eliminated fore-limbs were put in the manufacture of all 
manner of mechanical contrivances. The efficient work- 
ing of these novel contrivances — implements, weapons, 
and tools — entailed, of course, constant watchfulness, and 
this again gradually led to greater expertness in manipu- 
lative skill. In this way new stimulants for the exercise 
of thought and of the reasoning faculties were constantly 
introduced on the stage of human life, the direct conse- 
quence of which was a higher development of the organ 
of intelligence, as well as a corresponding efficiency in 
mechanical appliances. From this vantage-ground man 
soon learned not only to distinguish the physical causes of 
a given effect, but to adjust the causes so as to produce 
that effect at his pleasure. The outcome of his long ex- 
perience of the operations of nature is that now, to a large 
extent, he himself regulates natural phenomena, either by 
bringing together the physical causes which produce 
them, or by counteracting certain effects which are not 
desirable. Thus, in time of unusual drought, he waters 



PROLEGOMENA 5 

his fields, and in due season garners the produce. Not- 
withstanding his absolute inability to alter or annul any 
of the laws of nature, it is astonishing to contemplate the 
magnitude of the changes he has effected on the globe by 
his acquired power of skilfully adjusting means to special 
ends. Primeval forests and deserts have given place to 
cultivated fields ; former hunting-grounds are stocked 
with a variety of domesticated animals ; rivers are 
spanned and mountains tunnelled all over the globe ; 
and even the great oceans have now become the safest 
of highways. 

The crowd of new ideas, and the more complex train of 
reasoning which ensued from the thoughtful efforts of our 
earlier predecessors as toolmakers, soon led to the inven- 
tion of spoken language — that of signs and gesture being 
no longer adequate to give expression to the increased 
cerebral work which had arisen. With the use of speech 
new outlets for social progress came into operation, and 
greatly stimulated their mental faculties. "Speech," 
says Professor Cunningham,^ "has been a dominant 
factor in determining the high development of the human 
brain. Speech and mental activity go hand in hand. 
The one has reacted on the other. The mental effort 
required for the coining of a new word has been immedi- 
ately followed by an increased possibility of further in- 
tellectual achievement through the additional range given 
to the mental powers of the enlarged vocabulary. The 
two processes, mutually supporting each other, and lead- 
ing to progress in the two directions, have unquestionably 
yielded the chief stimulus to brain development." That 
articulate speech was acquired subsequently to the 
assumption of the erect attitude, and the specialisation 
of the hands and feet is, according to Haeckel, indicated 

^ Presidential Address in the Anthropolog-ical Section of the British 
Association, at Glasgow, 1901. 



6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

"by the fact that children have to learn the language of 
their parents, and by the circumstance that comparative 
philology declares it impossible to reduce the chief human 
languages to anything like one common origin."^ 

As time progressed, and these talkative bipeds con- 
tinued their predatory incursions into the arcana of 
nature, many other principles favourable to the improve- 
ment of their social economy were discovered and utilised. 
Thus a knowledge of the properties of fire, and the art of 
procuring it at will, furnished them with the means of in- 
creasing their food-supplies by cooking substances which 
otherwise would be unfit for human food. The rearing 
of domestic animals yielded a more reliable means of 
living than the precarious products of the chase, especially 
as the population increased and wild animals became 
scarce. The discovery of the art of cultivating plants 
and cereals opened up an almost unlimited source of 
human subsistence. Hence by degrees the more in- 
telligent among them ceased their nomadic habits, and, 
instead of wandering about in search of the roots, nuts, 
and berries which nature provided, they began to sow 
seeds and plant roots ; and so they gradually came to 
provide their own food-supplies. The introduction and 
dissemination of the knowledge of agriculture and pas- 
toral farming among these primitive hunters and fruit- 
gatherers may be regarded as two of the most important 
and far-reaching events in the history of human civilisa- 
tion. The vicissitudes of climate were successfully 
counteracted by the construction of houses and the in- 
vention of the art of weaving cloth from wool and fibrous 
materials, and hence their habitable area on the globe 
became greatly extended. 

The personification of the invisible agencies of the 
material world into spirits of good or evil gave rise to 

^ The Last Linli, p. 72. 



PROLEGOMENA 7 

the belief in a supernatural world. The idea, once 
mooted, that these spirits controlled external phenomena 
soon led to their being worshipped as gods, and hence 
arose religious principles which, under many guises and 
garbs, have ever sin'ce been potent factors in the develop- 
ment of human organisations. 

To the faculty of speech was finally linked the art of 
writing, an invention which supplied the means of per- 
petuating their knowledge of the secrets of nature in a more 
precise manner than could be effected by oral tradition. 

These are the main principles by which mankind have 
acquired their remarkable superiority over all other 
animals ; and to the early founders of human civilisation 
may be traced the primary rootlets of the religion, 
theology, ethics, and altruism which find general accept- 
ance among the civilised nations of the present day. 

2. THE MATERIALS OF ARCHEOLOGY 

As the works of man's hands are the only evidential 
materials from which our knowledge of the past history 
of humanity is derived, it is essential, in limine, to have 
a clear notion of the special characters by which they can 
be distinguished from natural productions. This is not 
always an easy matter. Waterworn shells and pebbles, 
fantastic petrifactions, perforated stones, stray fossils, 
and the many other odds and ends which may be picked 
up on an ordinary sea-beach, have often been mistaken 
for the works of man. On the other hand, successive 
generations have unconcernedly passed over a whole 
series of real stone and flint implements, and it was only 
within the last half-century, or so, that they were generally 
recognised to be objects fashioned by the hand of man. 
A flint may be chipped by a falling stone, the pressure 
and friction of shifting gravel, the action of fire or heat, 
etc., so that in many instances it requires the utmost ex- 



8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

perience to distinguish the effects of natural causes from 
the works of man. The finding of ashes and charcoal in 
a circumscribed spot is generally accepted as evidence of 
man's presence at some time in the locality ; but this 
inference, though practically correct, is not logically so, 
as fire may be caused by lightning. As a rule, evidence 
of design in the arrangement and disposition of inert 
materials suggests the hand and brain of man ; but the 
dam of the beaver, the web of a spider, and the nests of 
some birds and insects are manifest exceptions to it. 
Decorative art of every description, from the simplest 
geometrical figure upwards, may be regarded as a 
monopoly of the human race ; but the symmetrical dis- 
position of patches of colour on the wing of a butterfly, 
the configuration of crystals, dendritic figures, and the 
forms of many of the lower animals, such as star-fishes, 
sea-urchins, etc., are sufficient to remind us that defini- 
tions are more easily formulated than logically defended. 
Practically, however, it may be accepted as a working 
proposition that no animal but man has ever manufactured 
an implement, weapon, ornament, utensil, image, idol, 
or any article of clothing. Nor does any other animal 
make use of fire to cook food, or of a stone to break a 
bone for its marrow, or of a line, symbol, or geometrical 
figure to represent thought. Hence objects found in ex- 
cavating a prehistoric site, or under any conditions 
suggestive of a remote period, which can be assigned 
unequivocally to any of the above categories, are to be 
considered genuine relics — unless they are rejected for 
some exceptional reasons. The accidental falling of a 
worked object, such as a coin, from the surface to a lower 
level, or the fraudulent insertion of spurious objects into 
the trenches, may be cited as examples of what is meant 
by exceptional reasons. 

Owing to various causes, archaeological remains are 



PROLEGOMENA 9 

both scanty and fragmentary — for it is no part of nature's 
programme to preserve ancient relics for the purpose of 
instructing archseologists. Indeed, some of the most 
interesting and delicate objects of antiquity now extant 
owe their preservation to a combination of exceptional 
circumstances which have retarded the inevitable dis- 
integration which, sooner or later, overtakes all organic 
compounds. The human body decomposes so quickly 
after death that, in a comparatively short time, nothing 
remains but a few bones to indicate the characteristics 
of the race to which the individual belonged. The 
habitations, strongholds, and other structural remains of 
the earlier races, even when formed of the most durable 
materials, are now either obliterated or buried under the 
accumulated dust of ages. As to the smaller relics — 
implements, weapons, ornaments, articles of clothing, 
etc. — which have escaped the ravages of time, they have 
to be sought for in tombs, caves, rockshelters, huts, etc. 
The scarcity of such materials is also greatly increased by 
the destruction of many objects owing to the carelessness 
or ignorance of the finders. 

3. ARCH^OLOGICAL DEDUCTIONS AND CHRONOLOGY 

From the remarks already made it becomes manifest 
that to acquire accurate knowledge of the materials and 
methods of prehistoric archaeology, even when the scope 
of an investigation is limited to a small portion of Europe, 
it is essential to serve a long apprenticeship in the 
study of minute details, more especially the resemblances 
and differences in the ornamentation and form of relics. 
When confronted with objects of doubtful authenticity the 
archaeologist has to pass before the mind's eye, not only 
analogous objects found within the same archseological 
area, but those from more distant regions which have 
been at some former period ethnographically associated 



lo ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

with that area. Above all, he must make judicious use 
of the faculties of observation and comparison, so as to 
discriminate between the special characteristics of the 
suspected objects and those of the typical objects with 
which they are contrasted. And here the question 
naturally arises — How is a willing investigator to qualify 
himself, either to conduct archceological researches with 
the best possible results, or to interpret the materials 
already collected and preserved in a number of museums 
throughout the country ? Unfortunately, with the excep- 
tion of the Chair of Anthropology at Oxford, and two 
lectureships at Cambridge, there is no national provision 
within the British Isles for acquiring systematic instruc- 
tion in the essential elements of British archeology. 

Antiquarian societies occasionally publish valuable 
monographs on particular discoveries ; but, in the main, 
their communications are confined to Roman antiquities, 
church architecture, the arts and industries of mediaeval 
times, heraldry, genealogy, palaeography, etc., none of 
which is of much value to students of the earlier history of 
man and civilisation. Few have the time or inclination 
to wade through the transactions of these societies to 
learn the rudiments of prehistoric archaeology, even 
were they attainable by such means. The inevitable 
consequence is that the protohistoric civilisations of 
Greece, Egypt, and Babylonia, or the mediaeval remains 
of Europe which, of course, contain the primary elements 
of modern culture, are far more attractive to amateurs 
and general readers. But these various departments of 
archeology, however interesting they may be, are not 
sufficiently representative of our national requirements. 
If British archeologists are to retain a position among 
the nations of the world, as pioneers of the science of 
anthropology, something more than desultory work is 
required. The accumulations of the past must be utilised 



PROLEGOMENA ii 

in systematic teaching, and fresh energy must start from 
the vantage-ground already gained. In contrast to our 
national poverty in this matter, it is interesting to know 
that the French capital contains a school {L Ecole 
d' Anthropologie de Paris) entirely devoted to the teach- 
ing of Anthropology. This institution has a staff of 
twelve professors, who deliver systematic courses of 
lectures in the various departments into which the science 
is apportioned among them. In America, also, anthro- 
pology occupies a worthy place among the educational 
subjects taught in their universities. According to Pro- 
fessor Haddon ^ there are at the present time some thirty- 
three universities and colleges which offer instruction in 
anthropology. " It is found to be an adjunct of sociology 
in nine, of philosophy in five, of psychology in three, of 
geology and zoology in five, and of medicine in one ; 
while in five instances it is practically a faculty of itself." 
In these circumstances one need not wonder that it is 
still pertinent, in this country at least, to ask if there be 
any recognised code of rules under the guidance of which 
trustworthy information, bearing on the early history of 
mankind, can be deduced from existing archaeological 
materials. In advocating the affirmative side of this 
problem let me not be understood as holding that these 
rules are so clearly defined that he who runs may read. 
On the contrary, they are but faintly limned in the 
shadowy past, so that to decipher them requires as much 
technical skill as if they were obscure hieroglyphics. Nor 
is the necessary skill to be acquired by short cuts. 
Sherlock Holmes is represented as diagnosing a dis- 
ease by a mere glance at his patient's boots ; but, were 
he asked to explain the rationale of his apparently intuitive 
action, it would take him some time to arrange cate- 
gorically the congeries of symptoms, experiences, and 

'^ Jotirnal of Aiithropological Institute, vol. xxxii. p. 20. 



12 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

reasoning processes, on which the diagnosis was actually 
founded. Even the trivial point which entitled him to 
discard the ordinary clinical routine was itself, in all 
probability, the result of years of study. It is precisely 
the same with the diagnostic utterances of the experienced 
archaeologist. To formulate the principles on which his 
conclusions are founded would entail an analysis of the 
various steps by which his expert knowledge was 
acquired. Hence, in determining the chronological 
sequence and relative antiquity of relics, the investigator 
has to seek inspiration from a variety of sources 
scattered, maybe, over the whole field of archaeology. 
The following notes are merely intended to give some 
general idea of the methods and kind of reasoning 
adopted in this arduous task. 

The discovery, that implements made of bronze were 
vastly superior for cutting purposes to those previously in 
use, speedily effected a great improvement in the arts and 
industries of the people who took advantage of it. It is 
probable that copper and tin — the component elements of 
bronze — as well as gold, were discovered, and more 
or less utilised in some countries before the invention 
of bronze ; but their practical effects were not of sufficient 
importance, at least in Western Europe, to greatly in- 
fluence the current course of civilisation. Originally 
emanating from one or other of the Old World civilisa- 
tions bordering on the eastern shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, the use of bronze ultimately extended to all parts 
of Europe, though, of course, it took some centuries to 
reach the outlying regions. The precise date of the 
introduction of bronze into the British Isles is a matter 
of opinion ; but, according to Sir John Evans, we cannot 
greatly err by fixing this important event at 1200 to 1400 
B.C. Iron became probably known as a metal in South 



PROLEGOMENA 13 

Britain some 400 years before the Christian era, but it was 
at least a century later before it superseded bronze in the 
manufacture of cutting implements. The chronological 
sequence established by the introduction and usage of 
these two metals has long been adopted as a rough-and- 
ready means of indicating the relative age of antiquarian 
relics. To say that an object belongs to the Stone, 
Bronze, or Iron Age, merely limits the range of that 
object to one of the three periods into which the past has 
been divided. The Stone Age, which, of course, pre- 
cedes that of Bronze, extends backwards to the very 
commencement of humanity, or to the time when men 
first entered a particular locality : while the Iron Age 
occupies the time that has elapsed since bronze had to 
yield the palm of superiority for cutting purposes to iron. 
It must not, however, be forgotten that the Bronze Age 
varies, both as to its origin and duration, in different 
countries ; so that the precise length of time represented 
by it in any given country, say Britain, may not corre- 
spond, either in length or contemporaneity, with that in 
Central Europe, Italy, Greece, or Egypt, — for in those 
days knowledge did not spread with the same rapidity 
that it does in modern times. For the same reason there 
may be a considerable difference in the time when social 
and industrial improvements began to take effect in 
different parts of the British Isles. For example, we have 
positive evidence of the existence of objects of the " Late 
Celtic " civilisation in the lake village of Glastonbury, 
prior to the Roman occupation of that portion of Britain ; 
but in the north of Scotland such objects have only been 
found in conjunction with Roman remains or with those 
of a later period, thus showing an appreciable interval 
between the dates of the first known appearance of remains 
of "Late Celtic" civilisation in South and North Britain, -"^ 

^ Prehistoric Scotland^ pp. 277, 400, and 403, 



A 



14 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

These ages may also be still further subdivided into a 
number of intermediate epochs, the chronological se- 
quence of which is strictly determined by the knowledge 
and experience of a few expert archaeologists. Hence, in 
this way, the positive age of an object may be brought 
within comparatively narrow limits of the truth. 

Another chronological scale, closely allied to that con- 
stituted by the introduction of metals into the arts and 
industries, arises out of the evolutionary changes which 
the various objects in use among the prehistoric peoples 
have undergone in the course of their long experience in 
the adaptation of means to ends. Of the numerous relics 
of the prehistoric period now preserved in the various 
museums of Europe and elsewhere, there are very few 
which have remained absolutely unchanged during the 
whole of that period. When critically examined they 
disclose a structural development, generally from a simple 
to a more complex form, presumably indicating higher 
efficiency. For example, the primitive stone wedge- 
shaped axe of the Neolithic period was, in the first in- 
stance, continued in copper or bronze, without much 
alteration in form. Its first real mechanical improvement 
was the addition of a raised ridge on each side which fixed 
the implement more firmly into its handle. Then appeared 
successively broad flanges, a stop ridge, a side ring, and 
finally the single upright socket. This latter was the 
result of a coalescence of the two partially formed side 
sockets when the flanges nearly met, and hence it became 
unnecessary to retain the dividing septum, as it was 
found that the portion of wood inserted into the socket 
was stronger and more durable when solid than when 
split. All these modifications had been introduced as 
successive improvements on the methods of fixing the 
implement to its handle. With the introduction of iron 



PROLEGOMENA 15 

the upright socket speedily gave place to the transverse 
socket of the present day. 

r 

Then, again, the simple bone pin was probably the 
prevailing type of the movable dress-fastener during 
the whole of the Stone Age, due probably to the fact that 
the substance (bone, horn, or wood), being non-elastic, 
did not lend itself to mechanical improvements. When, 
however, metal came into use, the straight pin speedily 
gave origin to the brooch, or fibula, constructed on the 
same principle as that of the modern safety-pin — a form 
which subsequently underwent a remarkable series of 
changes in the hands of Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, 
Celts, Scandinavians, etc. Some of these fibulae have been 
regarded by archaeologists as indicating definite chrono- 
logical epochs in the localities in which they were invented, 
or first appeared ; as, for example, the Certosa fibula, 
which in Italy now definitely dates from the end of the 
5th century, B.C. Between the primitive dug-out and a 
modern man-of-war there is, apparently, an impassable 
gulf; but yet the two are connected by an unbroken 
chain of successive improvements all registering greater 
efficiency in mechanical skill. Each of these intermediate 
increments constitutes a numbered milestone in the 
history and development of navigation. Similar relation- 
ships can be traced between the primitive hut and modern 
habitations. Indeed, the same reasoning applies more 
or less to all archaeological remains, for the whole trail of 
humanity may be described as literally strewn with the 
discarded implements, weapons, and tools, which, from 
time to time, had to give place to others of greater 
efficiency. Many of these superseded objects henceforth 
ceased to be manufactured, and consequently they also 
supply more or less precise chronological data. Thus the 
well-known jet or amber button, with a V-shaped per- 



i6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

foration, so frequently met with in the late Stone and 
early Bronze Ages, for ever disappeared after the bronze 
button came into use. Hence these buttons have as 
precise a chronological value as if they were dated coins. 
But there are some other antiquarian objects, such as the 
bone pin and stone hammer, which have no such value, as 
they have been used and manufactured in all ages. 

Some further indications of the relative chronology of 
antiquarian remains may be gathered from a careful 
study of their geographical distribution. Precise and 
accurate information on this point is the best evidence of 
archaeological competence when dealing with objects of 
doubtful authenticity. Attention has already been 
directed to the fact that fresh discoveries of the laws of 
nature and of mechanical contrivances were progressive 
incidents in human civilisation. Whenever a better 
method for the conduct of the ajEfairs of social life 
was invented, it was in the first instance adopted by the 
people of the district ; but if the improvement was of 
striking importance it soon spread far and wide. Thus 
the habit of cooking food, the cultivation of grain, the 
domestication of animals, the construction of huts, the 
manufacture and hafting of tools, the art of projecting 
missiles, etc., may be said to be common to mankind 
from a very early period. As, however, the human 
family increased, and became divided into hostile com- 
munities, occupying more or less distant parts of the 
globe, many new inventions and mechanical improve- 
ments became necessarily more restricted, or took a 
longer time to reach distant races. The practical effect 
of this fact on modern archeology is, that many of the 
most valuable antiquarian objects are found only within 
certain areas of more or less extent, beyond which their 
analogues have assumed different types. This generalisa- 



PROLEGOMENA 17 

tion applies not only to the smaller objects such as are 
usually preserved m museums, but to structural remains, 
habitations, forts, sepulchres, etc. Indeed, so powerful 
are local influences in moulding the art productions of 
different races that, even in copying from the same 
foreign models, their works are sufficiently differentiated 
in style, workmanship, and character to be readily dis- 
tinguished from each other. The Celts and Scandinavians 
have borrowed spirals and interlacements from a common 
source, and they have both utilised these primary ele- 
ments to decorate certain brooches ; but the effects are so 
different that it is impossible to mistake a Celtic for a 
Scandinavian brooch, or vice versa. Similarly we find 
nurhags, brochs, tumuli, dolmens, beehive houses, 
bronze razors and saws, buttons with V-shaped perfora- 
tions, certain fibula, and many other objects of stone, 
horn, and bone, too numerous to be mentioned, occupying 
special areas of distribution. Hence there are experts 
who, by merely glancing over a mixed collection of pre- 
historic objects selected from different parts of Europe, 
could assign almost every specimen to its proper archaeo- 
logical area. Sir Arthur Mitchell's Jubilee Address at 
the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland (1902) furnishes 
remarkable evidence of how many special types of struc- 
tural remains, as well as objects of art and ornament, are 
confined to a few small areas in Scotland. Were any 
person to announce the discovery of a broch, or a carved 
stone-ball, or a massive bronze armlet with Late Celtic 
ornamentation, or a flat polished stone-knife of the Shet- 
land type, or an Orkney stone-club, outside certain well- 
defined districts within the Scottish archseological area, 
Sir Arthur would at once prepare for a battle-royal on 
the evidence. 

There are a few other points which sometimes help 
c 



i8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

in the solution of chronological problems relating to 
antiquities ; but it is unnecessary here to dilate on them, 
as their value depends on the particular circumstances of 
each case. Under this category the following fall to be 
classified : — 

(i) The position of relics beneath stratified materials, 
growing peat, stalagmitic deposits, sand-dunes, etc., the 
date of which may be approximately estimated by calcu- 
lating the time the superincumbent materials have taken 
to accumulate. 

(2) The association of different objects in one place, 
as in a concealed hoard, is of value in determining 
the contemporaneousness of the objects thus brought 
together. 

(3) The influence of the atmosphere on antiquarian 
objects, whatever the material they may be made of — 
flint, stone, amber, jet, or metals — is an important ele- 
ment in determining whether they are old or modern. 
Flint is liable to be altered by heat, light, humidity, and 
carbonic acid, and some kinds of flint are more aff'ected 
than others. The result is sometimes very superficial, 
only a mere film, and at other times we have a measur- 
able layer of porcelain-like patina over the whole surface 
of the object. The peculiar greenish patina on old 
bronzes is regarded by experts as a valuable indication of 
antiquity. But such proofs have to be carefully weighed, 
as most of them have been more or less successfully 
imitated by artificial processes. 

As a summary of the substance of this section the 
following remarks, though used elsewhere in discussing 
the art of interpreting archceological remains, may be 
quoted with advantage : — 

"All past phenomena have been stereotyped in the book of 
Time, whether they have left in the material w^orld any discernible 



PROLEGOMENA 19 

trail or not. Hence, chronologically and relatively, every single 
event bears to every other event an unalterable position, the 
determination of which is one of the main objects of archaeo- 
logical science. But the problem is a difficult one, — and in 
many cases absolutely insoluble by human ingenuity. As the 
materials of archaeology lie, for the most part, outside the 
scope of written records, the ordinary methods of historical 
research are inapplicable, and consequently others have to be 
resorted to. In the present advanced state of the science of 
prehistoric archaeology it is hardly necessary to explain what 
these methods are. When an architect, well versed in the 
developmental stages of his art, comes upon a ruined church or 
some other building of note, he can generally tell after a slight 
inspection to what period and style it belongs. He forms his 
opinion on some of the characteristic details of the ruins — a. 
piece of sculpturing, the shape of a window or moulding, or 
some other apparently insignificant feature. Art, like fashion, 
is a reflection of its ever-changing environments, and hence the 
products of every age have special peculiarities by which, within 
certain areas, they can be recognised. The art products of the 
old-world civilisations of Assyria and Egypt were as highly 
differentiated from each other as those of China and England 
are at the present time. The consecutive phases of this evolu- 
tion in human civilisation have occasionally left traces behind 
them in the form of relics which may be compared to instan- 
taneous photos of phenomena which can never be repeated. 
The recurrence of a combination of circumstances which would 
evolve a style of art that could be mistaken for that of ancient 
Egypt would be as improbable as the reappearance of the extinct 
Dodo among the world's fauna of the future. An animal, a 
plant, or a civilisation, it matters not which, once extinct, never 
again appears on the stage of current organic life. It is this 
great law of evolution which enables the archaeologist to prose- 
cute his studies with confidence. He gathers the waifs and 
strays of past humanity from the dust-bin of ages, and by a 
comparison of their resemblances and differences determines 
approximately their distribution in space and time. Although 
these old things have no labels affixed to them they present 
special characteristics — certain marks or symbols, unconsciously 



20 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

impressed on them by their original owners or manufacturers — 
— which become legible in the hands of the initiated. So much 
is this the case that Scandinavian experts would have no diffi- 
culty in picking out from a mixed assortment of stone imple- 
ments every one that was of Scandinavian origin. But the 
principles by which this brilliant result can be accomplished are 
the same as those practised by a dealer in old furniture when he 
excludes from his collection this or that article as a forgery."^ 

4. FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

From the data already advanced it will be seen that the 
study of prehistoric archaeology is by no means such 
plain sailing that any tyro who happens to stumble on 
relics of bygone ages, can all at once assume the role of 
an intelligent expounder of the culture and civilisation 
of their original owners, or of the age to which they 
belong. Such problems, even in the hands of the most 
experienced arch^ologists, are beset with bewildering 
difficulties, often of an inextricable character. Indeed, 
the path is strewn with pitfalls of various kinds, into 
which unwary antiquaries are apt to fall, without their 
bona fides as well-meaning investigators being in the 
least degree questioned. Secondary burials in tumuli, 
and the repeated occupancy of caves and other inhabited 
sites at long intervals, have often given rise to uncertainty 
and confusion, by bringing together relics of different 
ages and civilisations. Neolithic people have sometimes 
buried their dead among the debris of a Palaeolithic 
settlement, with the result that modern excavators have 
not unfrequently regarded the osseous remains of the 
former as contemporary with the relics and fauna of the 
latter, such as was the case at Solutre.^ But it is not 
necessary to enlarge on instances of this kind, which, as 
rnay be easily imagined, are by no means uncommon. 

^ Rambles and Studies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia, p. 328, 1900, 
2nd ed. '^ Archceological Journal, June, 1902, p. 116. 



PROLEGOMENA 21 

When to such sources of error are added those due to 
imperfect observations, hasty generahsations, prejudice, 
false judgment, etc., it is really a wonder how few 
mistakes have been recorded during the uphill journey 
since the science of archaeology was founded. 

Passing from the sins of omission and commission 
without viala fides , we come to the disagreeable problem 
of considering the falsification or forgery of antiquities, 
which, being \hQ piece de resistance of this volume, comes 
more appropriately at the end of the Prolegomena. To 
advocate plausible theories, even should they ultimately 
turn out to be erroneous, is rather to be commended than 
otherwise, so long as the critic adheres to legitimate 
methods of controversy, as this is often the best and most 
effectual means of eliciting the truth. It is not flattering 
to one's amour propre to be imposed upon by fraudulent 
objects in any circumstances ; but in archaeology the 
victims need have no qualms of conscience on this score, 
because they are generally in good company. It is a well- 
known fact that, at one time or other, some of our greatest 
antiquaries have been imposed upon by modern fabrica- 
tions. Sir John Evans acknowledges that both he and 
the authorities of the British Museum were for a time 
taken in by a school of British forgers who manufactured 
spurious specimens of ancient British coins. Indeed, it 
is difficult to see how an active archaeologist can altogether 
avoid such a fate, except by suspending his judgment 
whenever the least difficulty crops up. Si non errasset, 
fecerat ille ^niniis. 

Some thirty years ago I was proud of exhibiting to my 
friends a large scarabasus made out of some kind of soft 
stone which I brought back as a memento of a visit to 
the land of the Pharaohs. But alas ! it turned out to be 
a forgery, and an instructive lesson which I have never 
forgotten. Not long ago, while travelling in the Island 



22 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

of Riigen, I purchased a large nodule of amber, under the 
belief that it was a fine specimen of the kind found in the 
locality. When, however, I showed it to my friend Pro- 
fessor Conwentz, of Danzig, a well-known authority on 
this mineralised resin, he grasped it momentarily, and 
with a knowing look said, "Made in Germany." 

Since the study of archaeology began to be conducted on 
scientific methods, some half a century ago, antiquarian 
relics, especially those of the Stone Age — objects which 
previously were scarcely recognised as works of art — 
have acquired a large pecuniary value ; and hence their 
enhanced value commercially is a standing temptation 
to unscrupulous persons to manufacture imitations of the 
genuine articles. But although the primary object of 
most forgers of antiquities is undoubtedly pure gain, 
experience has shown that this is not invariably the case. 
The late M. G. de Mortillet, who paid great attention to 
this phase of archaeological error, classifies the motives to 
which falsifications may be assigned as follows : — 

"The first, which takes the lead of all others, is the desire 
of gain ; to sell objects, to sell collections, and to secure for 
them a money consideration in proportion to the completeness 
and rarity of the pretended discoveries. 

"The second — se\{-conce\t (ramotir propre) : to discover and 
possess that which no other person has discovered or possesses, 
and above all to publish a sensational report. 

" The third — a foolish national pride, which leads one to find 
in his own country everything- that has been found elsewhere, 
and even something- more. 

"The fourth — philosophical and religious prejudices, which, 
fearing- the light of truth, lead one to oppose certain studies by 
exposing- them to ridicule. 

"The fifth — ^jealousy (la vendetta) of some person whose 
reputation an opponent wishes to undermine. 

"Lastly — what may be called the love of mystification 
(V amour de la fufiiisterie), the mere pleasure of playing- a mis- 
chievous joke."^ 

^ L'Hom7ne {iSS~,), p. 525. 



PROLEGOMENA 23 

Sir John Evans has published^ a very interesting article 
on the forgery of antiquities, which ought to be read by 
all who desire to profit from the experience and instruc- 
tion of one of the ablest exponents of British archaeology 
which this country has produced. In this brochure the 
author gives some racy illustrations of forgeries at 
different times and in various countries in every depart- 
ment of archaeology — manuscripts, inscriptions, gems, 
pottery, glass, enamels, ivories, coins, weapons, imple- 
ments, and ornaments. As this article is readily accessible 
to the public, it is unnecessary to summarise its contents. 
A few of his preliminary and concluding remarks, being 
of a general character and apropos to the object of this 
essay, may, however, be quoted with advantage. 

" The demand for antiquities at the present day, and, indeed, 
for many years past, having' far outstripped the powers of 
legitimate supply, the high prices paid for portable relics of the 
past inevitably lead to their being fraudulently imitated. As 
with the ordinary 'smasher,' who finds that it takes less time 
and trouble to make and pass a bad shilling than to earn a 
good one by honest labour, so the forger of antiquities finds it 
easier to make and sell some counterfeit coin or bronze than to 
set to work to dig one up or to procure one from those who 
have done so. The professed forger of antiquities occupies, 
however, a far higher sphere than the mere producer of bad 
shillings, and, in addition to any profit that he may make by his 
skill, has the inward satisfaction of feeling that he has matched 
his ingenuity against the experience and discrimination of 
someone who thinks himself an antiquary, and has come off 
victorious. On the other hand, the knowledge that forgeries 
must and do exist tends to sharpen the eyesight of antiquaries, 
few, if any, of whom can honestly say that they have never 
been duped. As dogs must pass through their distemper, so an 
antiquary must have bought his forgeries before he can be 
regarded as thoroughly seasoned. Some, like myself, have not 

^ Longma7i s Magazine, December, 1893. 



24 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

only purchased forgeries, but have published accounts of them 
as if they had been genuine antiquities — accounts which any 
amount of subsequent withdrawal fails to annihilate. . . , 

"And what is the moral? Are collectors to confess to an 
absolute inability to protect themselves from fraud, and cease 
collecting in despair, or are there still grounds for hoping that 
collections immaculate from forgeries may be formed? The case, 
after all, is not so bad as it appears, for, great as may be the 
forger's skill, not one of his frauds in a thousand eventually 
escapes detection. By those long versed in any particular 
branch of archaeology a kind of intuitive perception is gained 
which enables them almost at a glance to distinguish between 
the true and the false. While attaining to this happy stage, 
the fact of being occasionally taken in helps to sharpen the 
powers of observation, so that the existence of forgeries can 
hardly be regarded as an unmixed evil. The knowledge of 
their existence tends, moreover, to encourage a more minute 
and scholarly investigation of every detail in genuine objects of 
antiquity, and assists in creating that judicial frame of mind 
which avoids too sudden conclusions. In the advance of 
science it is hard to say which is the more mischievous — to 
believe too little or to believe too much ; and the true moral of 
what we have been considering seems to be that which two 
thousand years ago was enunciated by Epicharmus — ' that the 
very nerves and sinews of knowledge consist in believing 
nothing rashly.' " 

There is, however, another side to the problem of 
forgeries which ought not to be overlooked. Every fair- 
minded person must admit that to characterise a particular 
group of objects, ushered into the archaeological arena 
under the auspices of honourable men, as forgeries, 
involves grave responsibilities, as, undoubtedly, such an 
action implies moral delinquency somewhere. But the 
possibilites of the real facts in such cases have generally 
so wide a range that no innocent person can feel annoy- 
ance on this score. On the other hand, any would-be 
critic making such a charge wantonly, or without sub- 



PROLEGOMENA 25 

r 

stantial evidence to show that his suspicions are well- 
founded, would be guilty of most reprehensible conduct. 
Nor would a prudent person allow himself to be inveigled 
into a controversy of this kind without being in posses- 
sion of the most cogent evidence in support of his 
position ; because there is ample experience to show that, 
whatever the issue may be, the critic rarely emerges 
scatheless. Should his views turn out to be correct, it 
goes as a matter of course, as everybody is wise by that 
time ; nor is it likely that his former opponents will 
appear on his triumphal car. While, should the charge 
be disproved, he has to bear no small punishment in the 
ridicule of his fellow-arch^ologists, on finding that he 
has become a dupe to his own self-confidence. It follows, 
therefore, that in disputes as to authenticity of antiquities 
there must be, at least, two parties holding opposite 
opinions, both of whom, however, may be actuated with 
the most honourable motives. No credit can be accorded 
to professed arch^ologists who sit on the fence, as their 
final decision is always on the winning side. But, on the 
other hand, no personal considerations should be allowed 
to interfere with a fair discussion of cases of suspected 
forgery, more especially in an age when the perversity 
and gullibility of human nature can be so easily utilised 
as a medium to give currency to false doctrines.^ 

Before concluding this section it may be observed that 
this volume deals only with incidents of modern forgeries, 
though such practices are not confined to any age, 
especially since coinage became an important element in 
commercial transactions. Sir John Evans, in the valuable 

^ Perhaps readers may see in these remarks a veiled reference to the 
decided action taken by myself in the Clyde controversy. If so, the}' are 
right. My action was taken after mature deliberation for the sole purpose 
of safeguarding- the interests of Scottish archaeology. No other motive, 
personal or otherwise, had a moment's consideration in my mind, and the 
reasons of that action willJDe fully vindicated in the following pages. 



26 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

article already referred to, makes the following remarks 
on this point : — 

" On the forgery of coins alone books might be — and indeed, 
have been — written. The subject can only be here treated in a 
somewhat superficial manner. Before dealing, however, with 
modern forgeries a few words must be said with regard to those 
coins which, though counterfeit, are as much real antiquities as 
the originals they imitated — with which, indeed, they were con- 
temporary. It is not so much among the Greeks as among the 
Romans that the art of plating a core of copper with a thick 
coating of silver was practised for the production of false coins. 
To prevent the practice coins were struck with the edges all 
notched by filing, with the intention of showing that there was 
no copper inside. But even these serrati, which were in great 
favour with those shrewd barbarians, the ancient Germans, 
came to be forged, and our own ancient British moneyers at an 
early period learnt the art of striking coins of copper, plated 
with silver and gold. In early imperial times at Rome it would 
seem that curio-hunters had an affection for false coins, one of 
which, according to Pliny, was worth several good ones." 

A coin found on the Buston crannog, the only one dis- 
covered on the crannogs investigated in the south-west 
of Scotland, was, on the authority of the same numis- 
matist, pronounced an early forgery of the sixth or 
seventh century, and probably of Saxon origin. It was 
composed of two thin plates of gold with an intermediate 
core of copper.^ 

5. EXPLANATORY 

It now remains to explain briefly how the principles 
and methods of archeology, as defined in the Prolego- 
mena, are utilised in the following pages as a means of 
detecting spurious antiquities, and of instilling into the 
minds of readers a sufficiently wholesome scepticism to 
enable them to pilot their way along an unusually 
dangerous coast. 

■" AyicieJit Scottish Lahe-divellings, p. 231. 



PROLEGOMENA 27 

At the outset it was suggested that the title of this 
book should be Forged Antiquities, and ho7v to detect 
them. But an objection to the second clause was raised 
on the ground that it would be impossible to give instruc- 
tion which could be made applicable to all the cases 
which might subsequently arise. The present title — 
Archaeology and False Antiquities — at once concentrates 
attention on the two contrasted ideas, and suggests 
that the former has a special bearing on the latter. To 
expound the nature and far-reaching effect of this re- 
lationship is the main object of this volume. The task, 
as thus defined, can be more effectually accomplished by 
giving a short account of some controverted problems 
with regard to the authenticity of antiquities, which have 
engaged the attention of many distinguished archaeolo- 
gists during the last thirty or forty years, than by intro- 
ducing hypothetical data, such as Sir Walter Scott's 
amusing descriptions of the antiquarian dilettantism 
prevalent in his day. If truth be stranger than fiction, 
why should we go outside its boundaries for more 
piquant elements? In this way the critical archaeologist 
becomes, in a great measure, independent of the con- 
flicting statements volunteered by unskilled observers. 
Once a fraudulent element creeps into archaeological 
explorations it is hopeless to attempt to reconcile the 
contradictory data which are sure to crop up. So far as 
the present work is concerned there is no occasion what- 
ever to deviate a hair's breadth from the lines of strict 
reality ; or to invoke the arts and embellishments of the 
accomplished litterateur to weave the materials into a tale 
of surpassing interest. Indeed, it would be hardly possible 
for Sherlock Holmes himself to concoct a story of con- 
secutive events which would more forcibly portray the 
different grades and foibles of present-day antiquaries 
than that which has developed out of some recent in- 
vestigations in our own country. 



28 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

In carrying out this programme it was essential to pro- 
ceed in a judicial manner, and to select for the purpose 
such instances of suspected fraud, or even unintentional 
misrepresentations, as involved the greatest complexity 
of archaeological details. In fact each illustrative case 
has been purposely selected to be an instructive object- 
lesson in the study and methods of comparative archae- 
ology. 

A beginning is made with a tour of inspection in 
Europe, embracing, in point of time, the second half of 
the last century, thus covering the earlier discoveries 
of the Palaeolithic period in France, as well as the lacus- 
trine remains brought to light in Switzerland and other 
countries in Europe, in all of which the forger has left 
behind him numerous traces of his operations. In the 
third chapter the evidence adduced in support of the 
existence of Tertiary man in California is discussed, a 
subject which has divided almost equally the opinions of 
American anthropologists for nearly forty years. In the 
course of this discussion it will be shown that the famous 
Calaveras skull, the mainstay of the argument, is, ac- 
cording to the latest American opinion, a comparatively 
mqdern Indian skull. In the fourth chapter numerous 
forgeries, recorded as having occurred within the British 
Isles, are briefly reviewed. The remaining chapters are 
devoted to a critical examination of the claims advanced 
by the discoverers of certain objects of an unprecedented 
character, made of slate, shale, and shell, to be re- 
garded as genuine relics of the early inhabitants of 
the Clyde valley — the site of their discovery. In the 
heated controversy waged over this matter for several 
years I appear in the capacity of chief objector to the 
genuineness of said objects. Hence my role, on the 
present occasion, is to advocate the correctness of my 
own views on purely archseological grounds, without 



PROLEGOMENA 29 

any special effort to refute those of my opponents. 
A little experience in this sort of thing has taught me 
that to follow up the kaleidoscopic, and too often irre- 
levant, arguments of shifty opponents would be an end- 
less and futile task ; and the result, even were it a 
complete refutation of all their arguments, would not 
substantiate the truth of my views. On the other hand, 
a verdict in my favour on archseological grounds would, 
of necessity, annihilate all opposition, since the main 
question is reduced to the simple issue of yea or nay. 
The work is brought to a close by a few general remarks 
on the consequences of allowing erroneous data, whatever 
may be their origin, to vitiate the synthetic operations so 
essential to a science which deals with such diversified 
materials as anthropology. 



CHAPTER II 

FORGED OR FALSE ANTIQUITIES IN VARIOUS 
PARTS OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT 

THIS chapter is devoted to short descriptive notices 
of a series of remarkable forgeries, or supposed 
forgeries, on the Continent of Europe, some of 
which at the time caused great excitement in archseological 
circles, because the problems at issue had ultimately 
become entangled with international prejudices. First in 
importance is the famous Moulin-Quignon jaw, which, 
about the time the scientific world was startled by the 
publications of Darwin and Lyell on the antiquity and 
origin of man, gave rise to a singularly animated contro- 
versy between French and English savants. After notic- 
ing some bold but unsuccessful attempts to impose on 
French archaeologists by a public exhibition of recently 
manufactured objects, in imitation of those remarkable 
relics, then for the first time being discovered in the 
Palaeolithic caves of France, we pass into Switzerland, 
where for many years the great lacustrine discoveries of 
that country have afforded a prolific field for the forger's 
ingenuity. The controversy about the mysterious finds at 
Breonio, in North Italy, was carried on principally by the 
late M. G. de Mortillet and Professor Pigorini ; but, so far 
as I know, the dispute is still sub judice. Nor is such a 
termination by any means an uncommon result of these 
polemical contests, so great sometimes is the difficulty in 
coming to a decision on the problems involved. Hence 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 31 

some people argue that archaeological discussions, even 
among experts, are of little value. But this is short- 
sighted reasoning. The very fact of the authenticity of 
an object being publicly called in question disqualifies it 
from having any evidential value until the doubts enter- 
tained about it are either removed or confirmed. 

THE MOULIN-QUIGNON JAW 

Dr. Hugh Falconer, f.r.s., writing from Abbeville, on 
ist November, 1858, expressed himself as follows with 
regard to M. Boucher de Perthes' discoveries of flint 
implements in the Paleolithic gravels of the Somme 
Valley :— 

"After devoting the greater part of a day to his vast collec- 
tion I am perfectly satisfied that there is a great deal of fair 
presumptive evidence in favour of many of his speculations re- 
garding the remote antiquity of these industrial objects, and 
their association with animals now extinct."^ 

On the 23rd of March, 1863, some four years after a 
few of the leading archceologists of France and England 
had come to recognise the truth of Dr. Falconer's 
opinion, a workman engaged in digging gravel near a 
windmill called Moulin-Quignon, in the suburbs of Abbe- 
ville, came to inform M. Boucher de Perthes that a small 
portion of a bone was to be seen projecting from the face 
of a cutting then in progress. He and a friend (M. 
Dimpre) went at once to the spot and witnessed the ex- 
traction of the bone, which proved to be a portion of a 
human lower-jaw (Fig. i). It was embedded in a dark 
sandy feruginous seam, almost in contact with the under- 
lying chalk, 4I metres from the surface and 30 metres 
above the level of the Somme. Associated with this 
bone were some flint implements of the usual types, 
which were then unsuspiciously accepted as genuine 

^ Essays, etc., by Grace, Lady Prestwich (1901), p. 83. 



32 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

relics. The news of the discovery caused great excite- 
ment among leading anthropologists on both sides of the 
Channel, and many of them at once visited the locality. 

Meanwhile doubts as to the authenticity of the jaw had 
been freely expressed by some of the English visitors, 
and hence a controversy arose, which soon reached such 
a climax that the disputants arranged to hold an inter- 
national congress of representative men to inquire into 
the whole circumstances. Accordingly, this congress was 
opened in Paris on the gth of May, 1863. France was 
represented by MM. Lartet, Delesse, De Quatrefages, 





n\>.^J 



Fig. I. Outline of Human Lower Jaw of Moulin-Quignon (§) 

After De Quatrefages 



Bourgeois, Bateux, Gaudry, Desnoyers, and Milne- 
Edwards ; England by MM. Falconer, Prestwich, Car- 
penter, and Busk (Evans had also been nominated, but 
was unable to attend). M. Milne-Edwards presided, and 
in the name of his French colleagues presented a report 
affirming the authenticity of the jaw ; but after many 
meetings, much discussion, and a visit to Abbeville, the 
English representatives remained unconvinced, and so 
the congress dispersed, leaving the jaw as much as ever a 
bone of contention. 

It will be unnecessary to describe in detail the various 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 33 

phases of this celebrated controversy, as they may be 
readily consulted in the current scientific literature of the 
period.^ For the present purpose a few categorical state- 
ments of the salient features of the arguments, pro et con, 
will suffice. 

(i) Although many of the leading archaeologists had, 
during the last three or four years, admitted the genuine- 
ness of flint implements found in the Somme gravels, 
there were still not a few who denied this, contending 
that if they were really relics of man some of his osseous 
remains ought also to be found along with them. This 
induced Boucher de Perthes to offer a reward of 200 
francs to the first workman who would discover a human 
bone in situ. Eight days later, says G. de Mortillet, he 
was informed of the discovery at Moulin-Quignon. 

(2) All visitors to the scene of the discovery of the 
human jaw were, of course, anxious to secure specimens 
of the famous flint implements in situ; and it seems that 
most of them, under the guidance of the workmen, were 
successful. But alas ! nearly all of these implements 
turned out to be modern fabrications. In proof of this 
statement a passage from Sir Charles Lyell's Antiquity of 
Man may be cited : — 

" Several eminent geologists from Paris and London visited 
the Moulin-Quignon pits in the April following, and saw many 
flint hatchets dug out in their presence from the black seam, by 
a body of sixteen workmen. These flint implements, as well as 
some forty others, said to have been extracted from the 
Abbeville drift in the course of the preceding month, were 
all, with one or two exceptions, fresh-looking, and entirely 

^ See the works of Boucher de Perthes {Antiq. Celt, et Antedil.) and of 
Lyell {Antiquity of Alan), Mdnioires de la Soc. d' Anthropologie, Comptes 
Rendiis Acad, des Science, etc. Subsequently short notices of the subject in 
dispute were gfiven by Hamy {Precis de Paldo7it. Htiniaine), G. de Mortillet 
{Le Prdliistorique), De Quatrefag-es {Homnies fossiles et Hommes sativages), 
and others. An interesting- notice of it will also be found in the Life oj- Sir 
Joseph Prestwich, recently published, 

D 



34 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

devoid of the usual marks of antiquity, so characteristic of the 
gfenuine St. Acheul and Abbeville implements, .... 

" Subsequent observations by Mr. Evans, and others by Mr. 
Keeplngf, who was employed by Messrs. Evans, Prestwich, and 
others, to dig- in the pits at Moulin-Quig-non,^ established 
beyond a doubt the important fact that some of the workmen 
were in the habit of forging- and burying flint tools, having 
moreover attained no small skill in the art of fabricating them 
and passing" them off as genuine, so that we are entitled to 
question the verdict of the numerous scientific observers who 
visited Abbeville in 1863, few of whom, if any, were prepared to 
treat with due suspicion and scepticism the testimony of the 
workpeople whom they employed 

" If, then, so many of the flint implements are modern counter- 
feits, a doubt naturally arises as to the authenticity of the jaw- 
bone itself. May it not in like manner have been introduced by 
one of the fabricators of the spurious tools into the black seam, 
to satisfy the demand for human fossils for which a reward had 
been off'ered, to be doubled if a bone was shown in sih%? "^ 

(3) But what caused the chief divergence of opinion 
among the scientists was the anatomical peculiarities of 
the jaw itself. It was freely admitted that these were so 
remarkable as to exclude the idea that it had been taken 
out of a modern grave, or belonged to an individual of 
the race now inhabiting that part of France. M. Pruner- 
Bey thought the skull to which it belonged was brachy- 
cephalic, analogous to some skulls found in a tumulus 
of the early Iron Age in Switzerland. Mr. Busk showed 
that it had a striking resemblance to that of a skeleton, 
supposed to be Celtic, found at Mesnieres, some fifteen 
miles distant, and which was then preserved in the private 
collecton of M. Boucher de Perthes, where he had seen it. 
It then transpired that the said skeleton had been found, 
the year before, by a labourer who was known to have 
frequent intercourse with one of the gravel-diggers at 

^ See Athencetim, July 4th, 1863, p. 19. 
^ Lyell's Antiquity of Man, p. 515, 3rd ed. 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



35 



Abbeville. Hence the theory that the disputed jaw had 
originally been part of one of the skeletons found in the 
ancient graves at Mesnieres, and had been fraudulently 
deposited in the gravel-cutting at Moulin-Quignon. 
There was, however, this noticeable difference between it 
and the bones from Mesnieres, viz. that it was covered 
with a blackish substance, while the latter had the 
appearance of having been in contact with a reddish 
sandy material. But on sawing through a portion of the 
Moulin-Quignon bone it was found that its interior con- 
tained a similar reddish material, totally different from 
that on its external surface — a fact which, according to 
de Mortillet,^ proved that before it became imbedded in 
the gravel it had previously been associated with a 
different matrix. 

M. Hamy subsequently showed '^ that the same type 
of jaw was prevalent in the Neolithic period, and he 
instances examples found at Bellancourt, Epahy, in the 
peat of the Somme valley, and in dolmens at Quiberon, 
Chamant, and Argenteuil. The opinion of the experts, 
who maintained from its osseous characteristics that the 
jaw was really old, was thus met by the hypothesis that it 
was a relic of a Neolithic race, and not of the Palaeolithic 
people who lived in the Somme valley when its quaternary 
gravels were deposited. From the fact that the jaw was 
well preserved, the coronoid process being still intact, it 
does not appear to have suffered from abrasion, such as 
would occur were it transported among river gravel. 
Hence M. de Mortillet concluded that it had been im- 
ported into the facing of the cutting in the gravel-pit at 
Moulin-Quignon by the hand of modern man. 

From the outline of this jaw (Fig. i), reproduced from 
an illustration by M. de Quatrefages, one of the most 
persistent advocates of its authenticity, it appears to me 

^ Le Prdhistorlque, p. 243. - Op. cit., p. 218, 



36 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

that the great projection of the chin here shown is in- 
consistent with the idea that the man who owned it lived 
at the time the gravels of Abbeville were deposited, i.e. 
in Quaternary times. In the above respect it conforms 
more with the under jaws of Neolithic or modern races, 
than with those of the Quaternary period, so far as the 
few specimens hitherto known will admit of a compari- 
son. The chin of the Spy jaw (Fig. 2) slopes away from 
the teeth downwards and backwards, giving a striking 
prognathic appearance to the teeth and alveolar border. 
The same sloping away of the chin is also well marked 
in the fragment of an under jaw known as the Naulette 




Fig 



2. Lower Jaw of a Skeleton found in the 
Grotte de Spy, Belgium (§) 

After Fraipont 



jaw (Fig. 3), found in one of the Quaternary caves of 
Belgium, near Dinant, in the valley of the Lesse. Ac- 
cording to Broca a non-retreating chin is a more recent 
characteristic, and consequently, the greater amount of 
backward slope indicates a nearer approach to the 
Simian type.^ If this law of human development be 
accepted, then the deposition of the Moulin-Quignon 
jaw was evidently a fraud. This is the verdict which, 

^ See Prehistoric Problems, pp. 122 et seq. 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



37 



after a long interval of reflection, finds general accept- 
ance among anthropologists of the present day. But, 
unfortunately, at the time M. de Perthes looked upon the 
matter as a question affecting only his personal veracity. 
It was taken out in his presence and, therefore, it must 
be authentic. Lady Prestwich tells us that it was a bitter 




Fig. 3. Naulette Jaw, Side View (}) 

After Dupont 

disappointment to him that his English friends, " in ac- 
knowledging the fact of the human jaw having been 
truly found as described, yet refused to admit that it be- 
longed to a remote antiquity."^ 

M. G. DE MORTILLET ON THE FALSIFICATION OF 
ANTIQUITIES IN FRANCE 

In September, 1885, M. G. de Mortillet published in 
the journal called UHomme a long article entitled 
"Faux Paleoethnologiques," in which he describes a 
number of systematic falsifications. From this article 
are culled the following instances of forgery as having 
occurred on French territory. 

One of the most famous is that of M. Meillet, of 
Poitiers, who, though a man of education and a dis- 
tinguished chemist, had become possessed of a mania 

^ Loc. cit., p. 91. 



38 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

for mystifications — *'Mon plus grand plaisir, avouait-il 
cyniquement, est de foutre dedans les savants." The 
Grotte du Chaffaiid (\f\er\ne.), the first which furnished an 
authentic sculptured bone of the Palseolithic period, had 
become a favourite and fertile source of this class of 
antiquities. Meillet, along with a friend of the name of 
A. Brouillet, directed his attention to this cave, and con- 
ducted excavations in it, the result of which was pub- 
lished in the autumn of 1864, under the title of Epoques 
antediluviennes et celtiques du Poitoii, an octavo volume 
with fifty plates. These plates represented, among some 




Fig. 4. Elephant from Chaffaud by Meillet {\) 

ordinary relics characteristic of the later Palceolithic 
period, a number of objects so strange and grotesque 
that they at once attracted attention and roused suspicion 
as to their genuineness. Fragments of bone found in 
the cave had carved on them figures of animals in a style 
of art totally unlike, and much inferior to, that of the 
authentic specimens. For example, the mammoth, repre- 
sented by Fig. 4, will be at once pronounced a gross 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



39 



caricature of the art of the Cave-men when placed in 
comparison with the famous engraving of that animal 
from La Madeleine (Plate L). Other bones had what 
appeared to be incised lettering (Fig. 5), which turned 
out to be imitations of Hebrew characters from an alpha- 
bet which only came into use about the ninth century of 




Fig. 5. Inscription on Bone by Meillet H) 



the Christian era. Besides, they did not represent words, 
but isolated letters, some of them being actually inverted. 
Meantime Meillet had got rid of his collection advantage- 
ously and disappeared, but his companion, on recognising 
the fraud, established his own good faith in the matter. 

At the beginning of 1881 a similar attempt at imposi- 
tion on a large scale occurred at Beauvais, in the north of 
France. At a meeting of the Societe d'Anthropologie 
de Paris, held on the 3rd of February, it was announced 
by a man of unquestioned honesty that a veritable 
cemetery, containing hoards of objects of the Stone Age, 



40 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

had been discovered. The relics reported from these 
discoveries, amounting to some 14,000 specimens, had 
been carefully collected by a dealer of antiquities, already 
favourably known as the author of a small treatise on 




Fig. 6. Forged Flint Axe from Bea'uvais (i) 



pottery. The happy owner of this trouvaille had sketched 
the principal objects, and proposed to publish a great 
work on the subject. The flint objects exhibited at the 
meeting were of the most fantastic shapes — daggers, 
handled axes (Fig. 6), suns, moons, stars, forms of 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



41 



animals, and other decorative designs ; in short, every- 
thing that the most ardent antiquary could desire. More- 
over, their authenticity was attested by some respectable 
magnates of the town — "magistrats, fonctionaires, riches 
industriels, artistes, etc." But notwithstanding all this 
display of disinterested evidence, the fraud was clearly 
established, not only by evidence of the non-existence of 
the cemetery, but by the detection of the forgers in the 
act of fabricating their pretended relics. 

The following incident, communicated to M. de Mor- 
tillet by M. Lartet himself, shows how readily even 
experts may be taken in when the falsification is the pro- 
duction of one who knows what kind of object is most 
likely to have the desired effect. The Museum of St. 




Figs. 7 and 8. Elephants Incised on Bone (Modern) 



Germain contains a bone plaque, showing on both sides 
(Figs. 7 and 8) the outline of an elejjhant, which has the 
following history. When MM. Edouard Lartet and 
Henry Christy were engaged in their earlier explorations 
in the caves of the Dordogne, they lodged in the hotel of 
a M. Laganne, an intelligent and well-to-do man. During 
the long autumn evenings the arch^ological discoveries 
in the district were frequently the subject of discussion, 
and on one occasion — some sceptical person having sug- 
gested that the explorers were the victims of a mystifica- 



42 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

tion — MM. Lartet and Christy maintained that no one 
could cheat them, and offered to stand champagne if any- 
one succeeded in doing so. "I take up your bet," said their 
host Lagan ne, A few days later Lagan ne appeared at 
his hotel covered with mud, like one who had passed 
a day in exploring a cave, and carrying a bag of bones 
and flints which he emptied on a table before MM. Lartet 
and Christy. Several specimens were selected and washed, 
and among them was the above-mentioned bone plaque 
ornamented with the outline of an elephant on both sur- 
faces. Both explorers were greatly delighted with the 
discovery of this fine specimen, and had no misgivings 
about its genuineness. At last Laganne triumphantly 
said, '* Tres bien, vous y etes pris ; offrez-moi le cham- 
pagne, c'est moi qui ai fabrique la piece devant laquelle 
vous vous extasiez." 

It seems that M. Edouard Lartet had preserved this 
fabrication, and only showed it to his most intimate 
friends. After his death it fell into other hands without 
a history, and was figured in Materiaux for 1874 as a 
genuine relic, from which the present illustrations are 
copied. 

FORGED OBJECTS OF BONE FROM LAUGERIE-BASSE 

In L' Homme (1886, p. 29) there is a short notice of 
some spurious bone objects said to have been found in 
the well-known Palaeolithic station of Laugerie-Basse 
(Dordogne). The rarity of bone relics, especially those 
ornamented with engraved design^, and the high price 
such antiquities brought in the market, induced some 
venturesome persons to supply the demand by manufactur- 
ing certain objects, such as lance-points, needles, pins, 
etc., out of the osseous remains of the Palceolithic fauna 
so readily found in the Dordogne caves. Of these 
forgeries M. de Mortillet has figured three examples. 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



43 



The bone pin (Fig. 9) he regards as a crude imitation of 
a Roman pin, and not a production of the prehistoric 
period at all. The large needle (Fig. 10) is both as 
regards size and coarseness of ornamentation unlike any- 
thing previously known among Palaeolithic remains. The 
small needle (Fig. 11) shows evidence of having been 



Figs. 9, 10, and ii. Forged Bone Pin and Needles 

FROM LAUGERIE-BaSSE {§) 
After De MortilJet 

manufactured from a fragment of bone which had been 
regularly squared by a metal saw, while the transverse 
striae on the parts around the eye and the point clearly 
indicate the work of a modern file. 



M. W. WAVRE ON THE FALSIFICATION OF LACUSTRINE 
ANTIQUITIES 

The discovery of so many remarkable lake-dwelling 
remains in Switzerland afforded great opportunities for 
the manufacture of spurious objects, because, amidst so 



44 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

much wealth of prehistoric finds, it took some time and 
experience for skilled antiquaries to learn how to dis- 
tinguish between the true and the false. In 1886 Dr. 
Gross, the eminent lacustreur of Neuveville, communi- 
cated to the Anthropological Society of Vienna a con- 
demnatory notice of the so-called "Horn Age" with 
eighteen figures of false antiquities. This article was a 
reply to one by R. Forrer, editor of Antiqiia, in the 
previous number of their Proceedings,'^ advocating the 
reality of the " Horn Age," as well as to another in 
Antiqua, 1885, entitled " Zur Aechtheitsfrage der punk- 
tirten Horn und Knochen objecte." 

I have, however, before me a more important article 
than any previously published on the subject of lacustrine 
forgeries, viz. "Falsification d'Antiquites Lacustres," 
by W. Wavre, Keeper of the Antiquarian Museum at 
Neuchatel. This interesting brochure appeared in the 
Musee Neuchatelois, 1890, with two plates of illustrations 
of the forged objects. These illustrations are here re- 
produced on a smaller scale than the originals, and with 
as much of the text, mostly in abstract, as is sufficient to 
retain the continuity of the story M. Wavre has told. 

M. Wavre begins his paper with the following intro- 
ductory remarks — thus translated : — 

" It was not four years after the palafittes of our Swiss lakes 
had been discovered and yielded a quantity of relics of the 
highest interest when Iniquitous forgers, allured by the oppor- 
tunity of gaining money, utilised their skill in manufacturing 
forged objects, which they spread far and wide. Such falsifica- 
tions were even described and illustrated in the pages of some 
learned but too credulous antiquaries, who, had they exercised 
a little foresight and prudence, ought never to have taken up 
pen or pencil on the subject. Since then up to the present 
day these forgers have not slumbered over their business ; and 

1 Mitt, der Ajith. Gesell. in Wien, i8S6. 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 45 

already we can divide the history of their operations into four 
chapters, corresponding- to four distinct phases in the evolution 
of this nefarious industry. Not satisfied w^ith having invented 
new types, they had the audacity to conceive and promulgate, 
far from the haunts of savants, a new Ag^e anterior to that of 
Stone, a sort of appendix to the Reindeer period, which, un- 
deterred by the fear of ridicule, they announced under the 
plausible name of the ' Horn Age ' {Age de la Come). 

"We will pass successively in review, in their chronological 
order, the forgeries of the railway workmen at Concise, in 1859; 
the productions, for the most part in bronze, of the Fabrique 
d' Yverdon, about 1879 ; in the third place we will take part in 
watching- the flourishing epoch of falsification — the develop- 
ment of the ' Age de la Come ' on the Fribourgian shore of 
Lake Neuchatel — and its subsequent emigration to Cortaillod 
on the opposite shore ; we will see journals proclaiming its 
auspicious birth ; then we will take cognisance of Press com- 
ments, the discussions at the Historical Society, the results of 
special investig-ations made on the spot, and a lawsuit before 
the Federal Tribunal ; at last we will demonstrate the complete 
collapse of this ridiculous (hisconui) Age which was vaunted 
from 1882 to 1885. In conclusion, we will say a few words on 
the latest and more fantastic phase of this kind of forgery, 
which gave birth to idols, various objects made of carbonised 
wood, stone moulds of impossible objects, and lastly we shall 
see how the forgers were led to make false inscriptions, which 
ultimately became the means of convicting and condemning- 
them to imprisonment in the old Chateau of Estavayer, on the 
26th July, 1887." 

Readers will find in Lake Dwellings of Europe (p. 54) 
a short account of the vast quantities of relics, chiefly of 
the Stone Age, brought to light during the construction 
of the railway at Concise in 1859, ^"^^ of the falsifications 
that -were ultimately resorted to by the -workmen as the 
genuine antiquities became scarce. At first these fabrica- 
tions were comparatively harmless. As the stone axes 
and other implements were discovered minus their 



46 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

handles, the workmen merely adapted new ones from the 
numerous portions of deer-horn found in the mud, for the 
simple reason that the completed implement fetched a 
higher price from visitors. But by degrees strange and 
odd-looking objects were produced. Stone implements 
recently manufactured from ordinary pebbles, flint flakes 
roughly chipped like saws, teeth of animals, daggers and 
knives of bone, etc., were inserted into handles of real 
lake-horn, and the fantastic objects thus produced were 
palmed off on the unwary as genuine lacustrine relics. 
No less than nine specimens of these forged productions 
are figured on Plate IL 

In 1859 a skilled mechanic started a factory of ancient 
bronzes at Yverdon, but his productions were speedily 
recognised to be forgeries, and, of course, his business 
was not a success. One of his forgeries was a knife, the 
blade of which was distinctly after a Roman type. 
Another was an arrow-head, which had been cast from a 
mould made with a wooden model ; but unfortunately for 
our skilled mechanic the bronze casting (Plate IIL, Fig. 8) 
showed the veins and fibres of the wood, and thus its 
real origin was detected. 

But it was in the art of manufacturing lacustrine horn 
into the semblance of archaic objects that the Swiss 
forgers attained their greatest success. This material 
when freshly dug up from the mud is soft, and in this 
condition it is easily carved or worked into any required 
shape. M. Wavre's description of the rise, progress, 
and final collapse of the Age de la Corne is an instructive 
and amusing document, of which the following is a short 
abstract. 

In 1882, and onwards, there began to appear certain 
relics made of bone and deerhorn, artistically worked, 
and decorated with hollow points, arranged systematically 
in such a way as to remind one of certain cup-marked 



Plate II 




Falsifications of Antiquities at Concise 

All about % natural size. (After M. Wavre) 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 49 

stones (Plate III., Figs. 2-4, 6, 7, 9-20, 22-30). Among 
them were to be seen especially tynes of horns perforated 
at the tip with a small hole for suspension, and containing 
at the other end some kind of implement, sometimes 
a charming little jade-axe (Plate III., Fig. 10) ; also 
elegant bracelets ornamented with a combination of dots 
and lines curiously arranged. When asked as to the 
origin of these relics the invariable answer was that 
they came from the station of Forel. These supposed 
antiquities were for sale in a bazaar in Neuchatel at ex- 
orbitant prices, and sometimes offered at people's houses. 
A large quantity was sent in the direction of Germany. 
One significant fact about these antiquities was that, 
instead of becoming scarce as time went on, they rapidly 
increased both in number and variety. Among them 
were pins with variously shaped heads, harpoons, por- 
tions of bridle-bits, goblets, neck-collars, daggers, spoons, 
rings, etc. One day a spoon was exhibited having the 
mouthpiece to one side of the horn, so that it could only 
be used with the left hand. Then came knives like paper- 
cutters, without ornamentation, but always with a hole at 
one end for suspension (Plate III., Fig 2). The elements 
of ornamentation were also increased, and their combina- 
tions became more complex. To the original dots and 
lines were now added spirals, small crosses like the letter 
X, semicircles, zigzags, the dents de loiip ornament, stars, 
suns, etc. Finally, on the 22nd October, 1884, ^"^ amulet 
was produced (Plate III., Fig. i) ornamented with what 
appeared to be alphabetical characters. 

" As to the term Age de la Come " (said the industriel 
who was both its inventor and the excavator of the 
relics), '' it would be difficult to name it otherwise. Both 
at Forel and at Petit-Cortaillod objects of bronze were 
found, then lower down came those of stone, and lowest 
of all those of horn. Consequently, would not one be 

E 



50 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

justified in concluding that horn objects represented the 
greatest age? If they are only now, for the first time, 
discovered it is because, since 1854, ^^ one made excava- 
tions deep enough, such labour being both difficult and 
expensive." 

What, however, puzzled thoughtful people was the 
intimate connection between the habitation of the inventor 
of the A£-e de la Come, and the discovery of the relics. 
When he lived at Forel, all the discoveries were made 
there. When he moved to Cortaillod, on the other side 
of the lake, it was at Cortaillod that the famous objects 
were found. 

Meantime some respectable persons who had bought 
small collections of these horn objects became interested 
in the controversy, and, in order to keep a clear con- 
science, took part in the excavations conducted by the 
Cortaillod explorer, with the view of practically testing 
the truth of the sinister rumours current among the 
public. The result was that they also came upon similar 
objects, some of which they picked out of the debris with 
their own hands. To their unsophisticated minds 
nothing could be more convincing of the genuineness 
of the disputed horn objects. Henceforth, these same 
persons, though formerly sceptical, had no longer any 
doubt in the matter, and actually attested by their 
signatures the genuineness of the objects collected 
during the excavations. Thus encouraged, our explorer, 
in order to make his discoveries more widely known, 
addressed a letter to a newspaper ^ in which he said : — 

" Some of the objects discovered form the collection of the 
Mus6e de I'Areuse ; others are actually in the Cantonal Museum 
of Neuchatel, of which M. Wavre is conservator. All these 
objects, really beautiful works, are made of horn and bear various 
markings arranged in specific designs. Their extraordinary 

^ Siviss Liberale, December ist, 1884. 



Plate III 




* • • • 30. 



Swiss Lacustrine Forgeries, "Age de la Corne," etc. 

These objects are here reduced by about J^ more than the figures indicate. (After M. Wavre) 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 53 

well-preserved condition has for some time past given rise to 
much controversy. A number of amateurs and savants, at 
home and abroad, have expressed serious doubts about their 
authenticity and, nothing- less than the presence of these 
amateurs, along with archgeologists, was sufficient to dispel 
their suspicions. It is only since then that the authorities of 
museums, not only in Switzerland, but in foreign countries — 
among others those of the Musee de St. Germain, Paris — have 
admitted the real antique character of these discoveries." 

But these precise statements were speedily contradicted. 
The Museum of Neuchatel did not contain a single object 
from his excavations, and the horn objects which had 
been left for examination were returned to the explorer. 
The director of the St. Germain Museum, in a letter dated 
gth December, 1884, stated that none of the objects sent 
to him were genuine : — " Dans une premiere lettre il avait 
declare qu' a ses yeux et aux yeux de M. Abel Maitre, 
qui les avait examines avec soin, tous les objets etaient 
faux ou retouches." He then went on to say that in 
regard to a further consignment there was one object 
which might possibly be genuine and that it was, 
probably, on this slender ground that the Swiss explorer 
made the above misleading announcement. 

The Historical Society discussed the matter on the i6th 
December, 1884, when many arguments and reasons were 
adduced proving the objects in question to be forgeries. 
The secretary told one significant incident about the 
excavations conducted by the said explorer at Cortaillod. 
When he approached the trench where the workmen were 
digging, one of them, on a signal from the foreman, 
moved to a particular corner, and after one stroke of his 
mattock picked up something, and turning to the latter 
said, '"'' Je Vai casse^ The object thus recovered in two 
fragments was a kind of diadem or collar (Plate HI. 
Fig. 14), which was subsequently exhibited at the Society. 



54 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

At the meeting when this took place a gentleman present, 
'■'■ un lionorahle amateur,'''' declared that he had seen that 
very object intact a fortnight before it was found in the 
trenches in two portions. 

Although the Society, as a body, had no doubt of the 
real nature and origin of the entire series of objects com- 
prised under the name of Age de la Come, yet to con- 
vince waverers, " et pour hattre rindustriel sur son propre 
terrain,^', they sanctioned the appointment of a special 
committee to conduct excavations at Cortaillod. The 
result of the explorations, carried out under these instruc- 
tions and recorded in the Mitsee Neuchatelois for 1885, 
p. 137, was completely negative. Among one hundred 
and twenty-five objects discovered there was not a single 
specimen like those of the so-called Age de la Come. 

M. Wavre then goes on to examine the special methods 
adopted by the forgers in the manufacture of the false 
relics, and how, by a careful examination of the fresh 
cuttings, the polishing stuff, and hardened glue, they 
could be detected. On one occasion eleven specimens 
were submitted to the Societe des Sciences Naturelles of 
Neuchatel, and the report of three experts was that, 
while the material of the objects might be horn found in 
lake-dwelling stations, the objects themselves had been 
fashioned by modern instruments and processes. 

For some time after this the mania for forgeries had 
a lull, and the products of the Horn Age industry lan- 
guished as purchasers became more wary. But in face of 
the increasing demand for real antiquities the temptation 
to realise money so easily was too strong to allow the 
trade of the forgers to become altogether extinct, so a 
new departure was resolved upon. The articles now 
offered for sale consisted of perforated stone hammer- 
axes, of elegant forms, elliptical or egg-shaped, and with 
or without ornamental ridges ; handsome vases of car- 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 55 

bonised wood ; wooden handles and clubs of all sorts, 
also carbonised ; moulds blackened with fire ; idols in the 
form of quaint images, made of soft stone ; also various 
objects of bronze, among them being a famous shield 
(Plate III., Fig. 21) known as the " bouclier lacustre," etc. 
A cup of carbonised wood when cut into was found to be 
made of fresh wood ; and the fragment of a handle which 
still remained in the perforation of a stone hammer-axe 
turned out to be of burnt cork. At last the gang was 
hunted to earth, brought to trial, and sentenced to various 
periods of imprisonment. After all, the convicted were 
merely the dupes of worse rogues, who, posing as honest 
dealers, palmed off spurious articles on credulous anti- 
quaries. This species of traffic was at one time so ex- 
tensive that it is now believed there are few collections, 
especially those which found resting-places in foreign 
museums, which are not contaminated with more or fewer 
of these fabrications. Indeed, I have a strong suspicion 
that I myself was taken in by three objects, figured in my 
Lake Dwellings of Europe (Fig. 13, Nos. 17, 18, and 19), 
and described as having been found on the notorious 
station of Forel. 

FORGED OBJECTS FROM THE KESSLERLOCH CAVE, 
NEAR THAYNGEN, SWITZERLAND 

After the excavation of the Kesslerloch Cave by Conrad 
Merk in 1874,^ which yielded a large number of the relics 
of Palaeolithic man, had been completed, two fragments 
of bone, supposed to belong to the bison and rhinoceros, 
were picked up by a labourer from the heap of rubbish. 
One of these had engraved on it the figure of a fox 
(Fig. 12), and the other that of a bear (Fig. 13), both 
animals being represented in a sitting attitude. "The 
mode, however, in which the figures are carved," says 

■^ Excavations at the Kesslerloch, translated by John Edward Lee, 1876. 



S6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



Mr. Merk, '' betrays the hand of an unpractised artist, 
for these drawings want the nicety and correctness which 
the others possess in the highest degree." Notwith- 
standing this peculiarity in workmanship they were 
accepted as genuine both by Riitimeyer and Keller. 
Mr. Lee, however, appends a note to his translation of 





Figs. 12 and 13. P^orgeries from the Kesslerloch Cave 

Mr. Merk's report, calling in question their authenticity. 
Since then both specimens have been proved to be 
forgeries, as Professor L. Lindenschmit has shown that 
they were coarse copies of two designs of Leutemann 
which appeared as illustrations in a small popular book 
published in 1868, under the title of Thiergcerten und 
Menagerien mit ihren Ins as sen?- 

THE BREONIO CONTROVERSY 

Early in 1885 Professor Pigorini described and figured 
in the BiUlettino di Paletnologia Italiana'^ a large triangu- 
larly shaped flint arrow-head, with a comparatively small 
tang. This object (Fig. 14) was found in a cave in the 
mountainous district of Breonio, some ten miles to the 
north of Verona. It measures about 10 inches in length, 

1 L Ho77ime, 1885, p. 520. '^ Vol. xi. p. ■^■:^^ 1885, and Plate IV. 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



57 



and weighs over 3ilbs. (i '7i kil.). As such an object could 
not have been used as a weapon, Pigorini conjectured 
that it might have some religious signification. He also 
announced in the same article (as well as previously at 
the R. Accad. dei Lincei, i8th January, 1885) the dis- 
covery by Stefano de Stefani, in the same district, of a 
number of other flint implements unlike any hitherto 



/D- 




Fig. 14. Flint Arrow-head from a Grotto near Verona (^) 



found in Europe, except one or two objects from Russia 
(Fig. 20), which were figured in a book by Count Ouvaroff. 
In another article of more recent date^ the professor ex- 
pressed the opinion that these implements {selci di Hpi 

^ Bull, xii., 1886, p. 79. 



58 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

strani) were manufactured as late as the beginning of the 
Christian era. 

About the same time, and in the same journal,^ Chierici 
published an article on a particular form of stone axe 
{ascia lunatd), said to have been found at Cumarola, 
near Modena, having a semicircular cutting-edge and a 
projecting handle (Fig. 15), which he maintained to be 
an Italian, instead of an American type, as was formerly 
supposed. He supported this view by a reference to 




Fig. 15. Stone Axe from Cumarola, Modena (J) 

De Stefani's discoveries at Breonio, among which were 
several flint axes of the Cumarola type (Plate IV.), the 
only difference between them being that the latter were 
chipped instead of being polished. Coincident with 
Chierici's article appeared that of De Mortillet on " Faux 
Paleoethnologiques," - in which the Breonio strange 
forms of flint implements are characterised as falsifica- 
tions. Then began one of the liveliest archaeological 
controversies of modern times, quite on a par in its inter- 

^ Bull. xi. p. 129, 1SS5. - See p. 37. 



Plate IV 




Flint Axes ("Ascia lunata") from the Verona District (i) 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 6i 

national character with that of the human jaw of Moulin- 
Quignon. On the Italian side were ranged Chierici, De 
Stefani, Strobel, Pigorini, and Castelfranco — all archaeo- 
logists of the highest standing — none of whom had any 
hesitation in accepting the Breonio finds as genuine relics 
of some indefinable period of past ages. It is unnecessary 
here to dwell on the details of the successive skirmishes 
of these belligerents, as the forces finally withdrew with- 
out coming to any decision. 

Pigorini replied to the charge of falsification^ by stating 
that De Mortillet had not properly qualified himself to 
pronounce an ex cathedra opinion on the relics in ques- 
tion, as he had not seen the originals, nor visited the 
locality, nor studied the deposits in which they were 
found, nor seen any of them in situ. 

Later on- came a certificate from Professor Strobel to 
the effect that he had seen and examined the Breonio 
flints, and was persuaded they were not modern fabrica- 
tions {non sono piinto di moderna fattura). 

Before proceeding further, let me interpolate a few 
categorical facts about Breonio and its remarkable flint 
implements. These are culled from notes made by the 
late Mr. T. Wilson, of the Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, after a visit to the locality, and communi- 
cated by him to the anthropological section of the 
" Congres de 1' Association Francaise pour I'Avancement 
des Sciences," held at Nancy, August, 1886. 

(i) From the character of the archaeological remains 
previously found in the district, it is indisputable that 
prehistoric man inhabited the province during Palaeo- 
lithic and Neolithic times. 

{2) Flint of every description — brown, dark yellow, 
and red — is abundant in the country. The brown is the 
most common, but it does not lend itself well to chip- 

1 Bull., 18S5, p. 171. '^ Bull, 1886, p. 64. 



62 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

ping, nor does it yield these long knife-flakes so well 
known elsewhere. 

(3) The implements of strange types {forme curiose), 
are found chiefly by a local man nominated by the 
authorities to conduct such excavations. Except this 
man, or those employed by him, almost no other person, 
either peasant, shepherd, labourer, or farmer, has ever 
found a specimen. 

(4) They have been found by this man scattered in- 
discriminately in all stations of whatever period — Palseo- 
lithic. Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron — and even on surface 
stations where no excavations were being made. 

(5) Mr. Wilson examined over one hundred pounds of 
worked flints from caves on the banks of the Molino, but 
not a single specimen of the forme curiose was among 
them ; and the excavator said he had never found any- 
thing of the kind. Moreover, during an investigation 
extending over three days, with the assistance of all the 
guides and the contractor, he found only points, scrapers, 
broken axes, and flakes, precisely similar to the ordinary 
forms from prehistoric stations. 

(6) In the vicinity there are, or were up to recent times, 
factories for making gun-flints and strike-a-lights, so that 
the art of chipping flint was well known to many persons. 

(7) The forme citriose are almost all of brown flint, 
which takes on scarcely any patina or varnish, so that 
from appearance it is almost impossible to distinguish 
ancient from modern specimens. 

(8) Every person in the district believes in the authen- 
ticity of the questioned specimens, and in the bona fides 
of their discoverer. 

In order to give my readers some idea of the fantastic 
forms of these strange implements, I have reproduced 
(Plates V. and VI.) two of De Stefani's plates of illustra- 
tions, showing a large number of specimens. They were 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 65 

found in the " grotta dei Camerini," in the Commune of 
Breonio.^ 

The next move in the controversy was by De Mortillet, 
who not only repeated his opinion of the Breonio finds,^ 
but blended with his arguments no small amount of 
sarcasm. Breonio is, indeed, he writes, a most con- 
venient station — " C'est une station bien complaisante." 
It contains all that has been known elsewhere, and some- 
thing more ; and all types are found in the same un- 
disturbed layer. Is it to make sport for the clericals that 
the Stone Age is brought down to the beginning of the 
Christian era? If it be desirable to advocate the theory 
of votive objects, ample evidence is found in Breonio. 
To prove that a stone axe of an American type (Fig. 15) 
is Italian, it is only necessary to go there to find several 
specimens (Plate IV.). In fact, this wonderful locality 
will prove anything you wish ! 

De Mortillet found a simple but natural explanation of 
all difiicultic? in the existence of some cunning accom- 
plice {rit.se compere), who virtually sold the objects, the 
price paid being a charge for the excavations. He thought 
this theory more probable, since P. Orsini^ had shown 
that, up to recent times, gun-flints and strike-a-lights 
were manufactured in the district. 

As a counterblast to the above there appeared shortly 
afterwards* the following certificate of the genuineness 
of the Breonio discoveries from Professor Pompeo Castel- 
franco, inspector of monuments and excavations at Milan, 
which I give in extenso, as it conveys a general idea of 
the different stations in which the questionable objects 
were found : — 

" Sant' Anna d'Alfaedo, 

"8/A September, 1886. 

" In these days I have travelled over the various stations in 
the Commune of Breonio made known by my colleague, Cav. 

1 Bull, 1888, p. 81. 2 L'Homme, July 13th, 1886, p. 385. 

" Bxdl. xii. p. 95, 18S6. ^ Bull., 1886, p. 162. 



66 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Stefano de Stefani. I have visited vv'ith care il cbvolo (shelter, 
hearth, or den) of Ca de Per, la grotta delle Zuane, the great 
encampment of Scalucce, the shelters (i cbvoli) of Sabbion., Fon- 
tanella, and Campana, the field of Paraiso, and the hillocks of 
Zivelongo ; I have glanced at the shelters of Camerini and 
Roba : I have made excavations at the workshop of Canipos- 
trino^ at the huts of Loffa, and at the Scalucce: I have ques- 
tioned the authorities and notabilities of the country as vi^ell as 
the excavators. From the tout ensemble of my interrogatories, 
excursions, and excavations, I have formed the conviction that 
the discoveries of the well-merited De Stefani are of extra- 
ordinary palethnological importance. I have excavated with 
my own hands and seen extracted from virgin soil several 
stone objects of the strange forms which had at first 
surprised me. Among these were some small crosses, a flint 
comb with three points, arrow-heads with four wings, etc. Of 
course, in addition to these unusual forms, I have gathered 
in great numbers knives, chisels, axes, etc. {coltellini, sgorbie, 
asse, etc.) of the common type. I have no longer the least 
doubt in this new acquisition to Italian palethnology, and it is 
for me a real pleasure and a satisfaction to be able to contri- 
bute to it with my poor testimony. 

"(Signed), Pompeo Castelfranco." 

The above solemn declaration appeared first In the 
Opinione (September 15th), and, along with the number 
containing it, De Mortillet received a letter from Professor 
Castelfranco, in which he gives a most pathetic description 
of the discovery of a small cross with his own hands. 
But, from the following extract, which contains the prin- 
cipal details of this discovery, my readers will readily 
understand that it had little effect as an archaeological 
argument on the mind of his sceptical opponent. 

" Un des ouvriers, plus heureuse que I'autre et que moi-meme, 
avait dej^ trouve une pointe de fleche tres belle, et deux ou trois 
silex ovalaires ; tout k coup je I'entends pousser une exclama- 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 67 

tion ; il venait de trouver un silex en forme de croix. J'accours, 
le silex etait 1^, dans sa main ouverte, encore tout sale de la 
terre fraichment remuee. Saisi d'une pensee subite, car moi 
aussi j'avais eu de soupyons (qui n'en aurait pas eu ?) je lui 
ordonne de me cede sa place qui me paraissait bonne, et d'aller 
prendre celle que je venais de quitter. Le bonhomme obeit, 
mais, au moment de partir, il me demande s'il doit donner 
quelques coups de pioche pour remuer en grand le terrain, et 
m'eviter un peu de peine. Je refuse energiquement et il s'en va. 

"Je reste Ici tout seul, devant une petite tranchee, ouverte 
de bas en haut, c'est-4-dire remontant le long du penchant tres 
peu incline de ce plateau. J'avais k la main une petite pioche k 
truffes ; j'attaque vigoureusement le terrain intact et je com- 
mence k trouver des eclats de silex, des lames, des grattoirs, 
etc. Je travaillais depuis environ dix minutes, avec la fievre 
que nous avons tous eprouvee, lorsque tout k coup, k environ 
25 cent, au-dessous de la surface, j'aperq:ois, dans la terre 
jaunatre et dure, une petite pointe grisatre assez finement 
retouchee. Je m'arr^te et je regarde. Le terrain etait intact ; 
par-dessus une touffe d'herbe et la croute d'humus, par-dessous, 
et lateralment rien de suspect. Je tire mon couteau de ma 
poche et je gratte autour de cette pointe. Une autre pointe 
parait. Evidement c'est une croix! J'appelle De Stefani qui 
etait toujours assis sur sa pierre, k quatre ou cinq pas de moi. 
II leve la tete et se rapproche un peu ; je pousse la lame plate 
de ma petite pioche k une certaine distance au-dessous du silex 
en question et je fais levier ; une motte de terre se detache ; je 
la re^ois dans ma main. L'instrument mysterieux etait \k dans 
ma main, dans son enveloppe de terre. II s'agissait de savoir 
si nous devious le laisser dedans ou Ten tirer. 

"Notre hesitation dura bien cinq minutes pendant lesquelles 
je restais, ma motte de terre entre les mains, sans jamais vouloir 
la laisser touche k personne. Enfin la curiosite fut plus forte que 
toutes les autres considerations ; je saisis la motte de terre k 
deux mains, je I'ouvris doucement comme on ouvre un livre, et 
la croix que voici (Fig. 16) parut devant mes yeux. Elle est 
aujourd'hui dans ma collection particuliere. Je fourrai la croix 
dans ma poche, me precipitai sur le vieux De Stefani, I'embrassai 
k deux bras, et lui plaquai sur les joues les deux plus bruyants 



68 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

baisers qu'un prehistorican ait jamais donnes k un autre pre- 
historican. Le pauvre homme pleurait de joie. . . . 

" Les silex de formes etranges sont, k mon avis, beaucoup 
moins anciens que les autres ; ils touchent k I'ere des metaux. 
D'autres stations de la commune de Breonio ne renferment que 
des formes g-rossieres, de rudes ciseaux et des grattoirs avec 
quelques silex ovalaires de petites dimensions. Point de formes 
etranges. A Breonio nous avons evidement phisieurs periodes 
depuis les plus anciennes de la pierre jusqu'i celles de la 
Certosa et de la T^ne. "^ 

In his reply to this De Mortillet, while referring to the 
cross and another flint object like a comb (Fig. 17), 
states, ''Nous devons seulement declarer des a present 
que ces pieces n'ont eu rien modifie notre opinion." 




Figs. 16 and 17. Forms of Flints from Breonio. 

Meantime, Professor Pigorini^ drew attention to the 
analogy between the Breonio flints and some equally 
fantastic objects of bone and limestone found in caves In 
the Valley of Mnikow, near Cracow, and described by 
Professor Ossowsky. But unfortunately the authenticity 
of the latter was also questioned by various archaeologists 
in France and Germany, so that in regard to them an 
equally animated controversy was waged which even the 
favourable verdict of a special commission from the 

1 L Homme, 1886, p. 579. ^ Bull., 1887, p. 95. 




s ^ 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 17 

Academy of Sciences of Cracow did not settle.^ Except 
some further discoveries of flints, notably at the station 
of Giare, Commune of Prun, and in the cave of the 
Camerini, Commune of Breonio (Plates V. and VI.), 
precisely of the same nature and character as those 
previously recorded by De Stefani and Professor Pigorini, 
and certified to be genuine by a number of Italian archaeo- 
logists,"^ nothing of importance has transpired to materi- 
ally affect the great Franco-Italian controversy. The 
only further reference to the subject is in the Bullettino 
for 1893, p. 341, where there occurs a short note by Pro- 
fessor Pigorini stating that flint objects, analogous to 
those of Breonio, were found at Volosova, in Russia.^ 
It will be remembered that at the beginning of the 
Breonio controversy, Pigorini referred to similar objects 
(Fig. 20) published in a work on The Stone Age in Russia 
by Count Uvaroff. It will be therefore necessary to look 
more minutely into the archaeological history of the dis- 
coveries at these two stations. 

STRANGE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE CAVES OF MNIKOW, 
NEAR CRACOW 

The controversy about the authenticity of certain objects 
found in the caves of Mnikow dates from the publication 
of a short article in L' Homme, 1884, p. 108, to the efi^ect 
that M. Ad. de Mortillet, and M. E. Chantre, after 
seeing the Mnikow collection in the Museum of the 
Academy of Sciences at Cracow, pronounced many of 
the objects to be forgeries. This collection, which I 
saw some years ago, is a large one, and consists of 
a varied assortment of relics made of bone and stone, 
worked objects of flint, fragments of pottery, pendants, 
rude human figurines, incised outlines of mammals, etc. 

1 See L'Homme, 1886, p. 506. 2 Bull, 1888, p. 141. 

^ Congres International, etc., 1892, vol. ii. pp. 248, 249. 



72 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Portions of bone were fashioned into pointed implements, 
and others had such bizarre shapes that their use was 
inexplicable. According to MM. de Mortillet and 
Chantre the lines of these carvings betrayed their 
modernity by not possessing the same old patina which 






m 



Figs. i8 and 19. 
Knife and Fork from the Cave of Mnikow, near Cracow (i) 

After De Mortillet 

was visible on the natural surface of the raw material, 
whether bone or stalactite. 

Professor Ossowsky had a few years before published a 
brochure on these discoveries, with two plates of illustra- 
tions, two of the objects being a knife (blade and handle in 
separate pieces) and fork, both made of bone and of very 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 73 

modern types (Figs. iS and 19). Rumours that some of 
these objects were forgeries having got into several arch^o- 
logical journals, gave great annoyance to M. Ossowsky 
and the authorities of the Academy of Sciences, under 
whose patronage the excavations had been conducted. 
Hence a committee of distinguished scientists was ap- 
pointed to investigate the matter, the result of which was 
that, at a seance held on the 26th March, 1885, under the 
presidency of M. Lepkowsky, they unanimously pro- 
nounced ^ *■ r authenticite induhitahle de tons ces objets, 
sans ancune exception^ 

The next move in this matter was an article by Pro- 
fessor Pigorini ^ on the parallelism between some of the 
strange objects from Mnikow and those of Breonio, from 
which he inferred the genuineness of both sets of objects, 
for he did not think it admissible to suppose that the same 
forgers had been carrying on their operations in both 
places. To this De Mortillet replied that this argument 
was by no means conclusive; for, if at two distant points, 
at different epochs, objects of the same form could be 
fabricated, why under similar conditions could not forgers 
equally fabricate objects of the same form ? - 

THE PREHISTORIC STATION OF VOLOSOVA 

There are two powerful reasons for inquiring into the 
exact nature of the discoveries at Volosova, viz. that they 
have been appealed to as evidence in support of the 
genuineness not only of the Breonio flints, but also of 
the shale and shell " idols" and "amulets" of the Clyde 
valley in Scotland.'^ 

The station is situated about a mile from the village 
of Volosova, on the left bank of the Oka, almost vis-a-vis 

^ Rendico7iti R. Ac. dei Lijicei, 1 6th Jan. , 1S87. 

'^ L Homme, 1887, p. 62. 

•^ See JoiiDial Brit. Arch. Assoc, Sept., 1901. 



74 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

to the town of Mourom which, in a direct line, is only 
little over three miles distant. It occupies a ridge, now 
overspread with blown sand, but not many years ago it 
was covered with fir trees. The ridge is sufficiently 
elevated to be above the spring floods which periodically 
cover the lower grounds. Underneath the superficial 
white sands there lies a bed of dark solid sand, of various 
depths up to 2h f^^t, in which a vast quantity of the 
remains of a Stone Age population has been found. 




Fig. 20. Flint Objects from Russia 

After Ouvaroff 



The relics consist of various objects made of stone (chiefly 
flint) and bone, together with numerous fragments of 
hand-made pottery. The first important discoveries at 
Volosova were in 1870, which furnished a good deal of 
the materials utilised by the late Count Ouvaroff in his 
work on the Stone Age in Russia (1881). 

I have already referred to the fact that Professor 
Pigorini cited some of the flint objects in this work as 
being analogous to the Breonio flints, and therefore, 
according to him, valid evidence of their antiquity. De 



Continental forgeries 75 

Mortillet, however, characterised these Russian objects 
also as forgeries, stating that, aUhough they were unfortu- 
nately illustrated in Ouvaroff's book, they were not taken 
into the Museum at Moscow.^ Shortly afterwards De 
Mortillet figured, in his famous article " Faux Paleoethno- 
logiques " one of the said objects (Fig. 20, B) which he 
regarded as forgeries. 

The largest collection of relics from Volosova has been 
made by Mr. P. Koudriavtsev, of Vladimir, who gave a 
description of it at the International Congress of Pre- 
historic Archaeology held at Moscow, in 1892,- from which 
the present notes and illustrations are taken. In his pre- 
liminary remarks Mr. Koudriavtsev informs us that, as all 
the remains are uniformly distributed throughout the 
entire mass, and as the station has been frequently 
excavated by the peasants from whom he had purchased 
many (beaucoup) objects, it was impossible for him to 
describe his collection otherwise than under the categories 
into which they can be classified according to their usage, 
as follows : — 

Fragments of pottery representing some 200 different 
vessels ; arrow-heads of flint, 500 whole, besides a large 
number of broken or unfinished specimens ; scrapers, 
750 whole ; borers, 380 ; knives, 280 ; nuclei, 5 ; saws, 
30, the half being broken ; polished axes, 44, many being 
broken ; massive axes, 18 (7 only being whole) ; hammer 
axes, 3 (one only entire) ; plaques or pendants with a 
hole for suspension, 26, besides fragments : whetstones, 
72, mostly broken ; figured objects, 17, many of them 
broken or of undetermined form ; objects of bone and 
perforated teeth, 29. 

Among the fauna represented in the debris the follow- 
ing animals may be noted : Reindeer, elk, ox, otter, dog, 
marten, fox, hare, pig, beaver, badger, wolf, bear, etc. 

1 L Homme ^ 1885, p. 154. - Vol. ii. pp. 232-62. 



76 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

As to the question of forgery, Mr, Koudriavtsev writes 
as follows : — ■ 

" The first who commenced to gather arrow-heads and other 
ancient objects of stone at Volosova was Mr, Koznov, a 
merchant of Mourom, who engag-ed gamins to seek for 





Figs. 21 and 22. Flint Objects from Volosova, Russia 



them, and rewarded them with bonbons, I came after 
Mr, Koznov, and had to give them money. Later, when 
strangers began to visit the station, the price was raised, so 
that they sometimes demanded two or three roubles for an axe- 
hammer head. It was then that certain savants suggested the 
question of the possibiHty of the forger}^ of implements ; but 
such forgeries, if there had been an}^, must have been very rare. 
It is impossible for gamins to fabricate an arrow-point, or 
any object in worked flint, and all they could do was to polish 
an axe of schist, or to perforate a plaque of this material ; but 
it is very rare to find plaques and axes of this kind. One could 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



77 



also sharpen a bone-point, but this would be easily detected. 
I myself noticed, on one occasion, such a point among the 
objects brought to me by a gamin, and, on reproaching the 
little vender, he merely laughed and ran away in haste." 

So Mr, Koudriavtsev admits that forgery was practised, 
and if so, seeing that most of the objects in his own 
collection had been purchased from the peasants, the 
problem of forgery cannot be altogether eliminated from 
the discussion. 

Among the Volosova relics, which have been paralleled 
with the Breonio jflints and the Clyde "idols" and "pen- 
dants," are the following : Two human-like figures 
chipped out of a flat piece of flint, showing a head, neck, 
and short extremities (Figs. 21 and 22). One human 
figure of this description was found by the author in an 





Figs. 23 and 24. Flint Objects from Volosova 



undisturbed part of the relic bed. Two forms repre- 
senting a goose and probably a pig (Figs. 23 and 24). 
A fantastic piece of flint (Fig. 26), chipped on both sides, 
is the only worked object that is comparable to the 
Breonio flints. Two plaques of schist, one plain with 
a hole for suspension (Fig. 25), and the other (Fig. 27), 
showing a nondescript ornamentation, may be compared 
with the shale pendants of the Clyde. Both these have 
a suspicious look, and, as they come within the category 
of objects which, according to Mr. Koudriavtsev, could 



78 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

have been manufactured by '"'■gamins,'''' they can have 
little arch^ological value in a scientific argument. On 
the supposition that the human and animal flint figurines 
are authentic remains of the Neolithic people of Volo- 
sova, and I see no reason to doubt it, the following 




Figs. 25 and 26. Flint Object and Stone Pendant from Voi.osova 

remarks by the Hon. John Abercromby seem to me to be 
the most rational explanation of their meaning and pur- 
pose : — 

"The practice of chipping flattish pieces of flint into some- 
thing' approaching an animal shape is not confined by any 
means to the valley of the Okd. Far to the north, near the 
mouth of the Zolotitsa, which falls into the White Sea some 
hundred miles north of Archangel, there was a Neolithic work- 
shop for the manufacture of flint implements, and among the 
small saws, knives, and arrow-heads there was found the 
silhouette of a seal in flint, now in the Historical Museum of 
Moscow. And tM^o flint outlines are figured by the Count 
Uvdrov, the actual finding-place of which is unknown, though 
they were bought in the government of Kazan. One (Fig. 20, B) 
has a large thick neck and head, a short thick body, four short 
legs, and a broad tail. It might be taken for the skin of an 
animal, such as a beaver, dried and stretched. What the other 



CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 



79 



represents I cannot even hazard a g"uess, though it is doubtless 
an animal form. The Volosovans also carved in bone. Mr. 
Koudriavtsev has in his collection the head of a swan in full 
relief, carved at the end of a long bone, the rest of which was 
left untouched. Another piece represents the head of a duck ; 
a third a very small fish with a small hole of suspension 
through the tail. As it is difficult to believe that Neolithic man 
in a low state of civilisation, when it is not certain that even the 




Fig. 27. Stone Plaque from Volosova, Russia 



dog was domesticated, should take the trouble to hew out of 
flint and bone representations of men and animals merely to 
satisfy his artistic and creative instincts and faculties, some 
other reason must be sought for. It is more consonant with 
the extreme laziness of uncivilised man to suppose that he had 
a practical object in view, that the human and animal figures 
served as household gods or as personal amulets to secure 
luck when fishing or hunting."^ 

^ Pre- and Proio-hisloric Fitms, vol. i. p. 71. 



8o ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Upon the whole I fail to see the relevance of appealing 
to the discoveries of Mnikow or Volosova as supplying 
valid evidence for or against the genuineness of either the 
Breonio or Clyde finds, as there is very little similarity 
between any of the contrasted objects. That the Stone 
Age people of Volosova should manufacture human or 
animal forms out of flint is not so very remarkable, as we 
find such figurines made of clay in many other prehistoric 
stations in Europe, such, for example, as at Laibach in 
Carniola, Butmir in Bosnia, Tordosch in Transylvania.^ 
Idols and amulets were, indeed, universally used in pre- 
historic times ; and that the former assumed the forms of 
men and various animals is abundantly illustrated in 
Schliemann's Ilios. Forms of various animals well 
chipped out of flint have also been found in Egypt. 
Thus, Dr. Schweinfurth has quite recently figured a 
bubalis, a wild goat, and a sheep, beautifully chipped of 
flint, which were found in prehistoric graves of the early 
dynasties, or even a still earlier period.'^ Similar figures, 
including a flying bird, a serpent, a dog, a hippopotamus, 
have been recorded and figured by Professor Flinders 
Petrie as coming from -the neighbourhood of Abydos. 
Objects which come under the same category are also 
described by the late Thomas Wilson as having been 
found in various parts of America.^ That, however, fan- 
tastic-shaped flints, like those from Breonio, should be 
found only in stations limited to one small area in Europe, 
but covering the whole range of prehistoric times from the 
Palccolithic period down to the Iron Age, is the inexplic- 
able residuum of the Breonio problem. 

^ Rambles and Studies in Bosnia, etc., p. 126. 

" Revue de V Ecole d' Anthropologle de Paris, Nov., 1903. 

'' Prehistoric Art, 1S98, p. 437. 



CHAPTER III 
TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 

THE presence of man on the American Continent 
during the Quaternary period, though advocated 

on archaeological grounds even before M. Boucher 
de Perthes succeeded in convincing the scientific world of 
his existence in Europe during that period, still remains 
suh judice. One of the most earnest and persistent advo- 
cates of the affirmative side of this question was the late 
Mr. Thomas Wilson, curator of the department of pre- 
historic archseology in the United States National Museum. 
At the International Congress of Anthropology and Pre- 
historic Archasology, held in Paris in 1900, Mr. Wilson 
read a paper on "The High Antiquity of Man in North 
America," in which the problem is thus formulated. " The 
existence of man in America during the Quaternary 
period, i.e. during an epoch which corresponded to the 
Palaeolithic period in Europe, has been contested by some 
archseologists of the New World. Others (among which 
he classifies himself), while recognising that the evidence 
of the presence of a human being in the Pleistocene 
deposits of America is not sufficiently conclusive, never- 
theless hold that certain facts cannot be explained by the 
present Indian occupation of the country {par la settle 
occupation indienne a Vepoque actuelle).''^ But this is not a 
fair statement of the question at issue as hitherto under- 
stood and discussed by archaeologists ; for, if the so-called 
Calaveras skull be accepted as a genuine relic of the 

G 81 



82 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

period when the auriferous gravels of California were 
deposited, it would prove the existence of a highly- 
developed man earlier than the Pliocene period. Yet 
this is what Mr. Wilson advocates in his paper. The 
archaeological data which he selects as favourable to the 
high antiquity of man in the New World may be con- 
veniently arranged under the following heads : — 

(i) The discovery of human implements with the skele- 
tons of extinct animals, as recorded by Dr. Koch and 
others. 

(2) The finding of flint implements, of similar types to 
those of the Palaeolithic period in Europe, in glacial 
gravels, as at Trenton, in the drift of the Delaware River. 

(3) Figures of the mammoth incised on a shell and on 
a worked stone — " Lenape Stone." 

(4) Human bones found in a hard breccia at Sarasota 
(Florida). 

(5) The finding of human remains, bones of extinct 
animals, and a number of mortars, pestles, rubbing- 
stones, lance-heads, etc., in undisturbed gravels of the 
Tertiary period in California. 

Although it is no part of the programme laid out for 
this work to discuss the general question of the antiquity 
of man in America, I think it desirable in this case to 
make a few remarks on the facts and arguments advanced 
by Mr. Wilson in support of his views. Of course, my 
chief object is to examine the claims of the *' Calaveras 
skull," and its contemporary '' finds," to great antiquity, 
because it has been suggested that false testimony, either 
in the form of a fraud or a hoax, has played an important 
part in the evidence. The attainment of my object will 
be facilitated by gaining some insight into the nature of 
the collateral arguments on which the high antiquity of 
man on the American Continent has hitherto been based. 
One noteworthy distinction between the anthropological 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 83 

data of the Old and New Worlds is that the caves and 
rock-shelters of the former were the inhabited sites of a 
very ancient race, whose chief occupation was the hunting 
of wild animals, at a time so long ago that most of these 
animals no longer exist ; whereas such evidential materials 
are totally awanting in the latter. The bones and worked 
objects hitherto found in the caves of America belong, so 
far as my information goes, entirely to the Neolithic 
period. They have disclosed nothing comparable to the 
intermingling of the osseous remains of extinct animals 
with the multifarious debris of that highly artistic civilisa- 
tion which characterised the Troglodytes of England, 
France, and other parts of Europe towards the close of 
the Palaeolithic period. 

With regard to Dr. Koch's discoveries it will suffice to 
give an extract from a paper by Mr. Charles Rau,^ which 
bears testimony to the accuracy of the explorer's state- 
ments. 

" In the year 1839 the late Dr. Albert C. Koch discovered in 
the bottom of the Bourbeuse River, in Gasconade County, 
Missouri, the remains of a Mastodon giganieus under very 
peculiar circumstances. The greater portion of the bones ap- 
peared more or less burned, and there was sufficient evidence 
that the fire had been kindled by human agency, and with the 
design of killing the huge creature, which had been found mired 
in the mud, and in an entirely helpless condition. The animal's 
fore and hind legs, untouched by the fire, were in a perpen- 
dicular position, with the toes attached to the feet, showing 
that the ground in which the animal had sunk, now a greyish- 
coloured clay, was in a plastic condition when the occurrence 
took place. Those portions of the skeleton, however, which 
had been exposed above the surface of the clay, were particu- 
larly consumed by the fire, and a layer of wood-ashes and 
charred bones, varying in thickness from two to six inches, 
indicated that the burning had been continued for some length 

^ StJiithsoniaii Report, 1872, p. 395. 



84 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

of time. The fire appeared to have been most destructive 
around the head of the animal. Mingled with the ashes and 
bones was a large number of broken pieces of rock, which 
evidently had been carried to the spot from the bank of the 
Bourbeuse River to be hurled at the animal. But the burning 
and hurling of stones, it seems, did not satisfy the assailants of 
the mastodon ; for Dr. Koch found among the ashes, bones, 
and rocks several stone arrow-heads, a spear-head, and soyne 
stone axes, which were taken out in the presence of a number of 
witnesses, consisting of the people of the neighbourhood, who 
had been attracted by the novelty of the excavation. The layer 
of ashes and bones was covered by strata of alluvial deposits, 
consisting of clay, sand, and soil, from eight to nine feet thick, 
which form the bottom of the Bourbeuse River in general." 

About one year after this excavation, Dr. Koch found 
at another place in Benton County, Missouri, in the 
bottom of the Pomme de Terre River, about ten miles 
above its junction with the Osage, several stone arrow- 
heads mingled with the bones of a nearly entire skeleton 
of the Missourium. The two arrow-heads found with the 
bones — 

*' were," in the words of Dr. Koch himself,^ " in such a position 
as to furnish evidence still more conclusive, perhaps, than in 
the other case, of their being of equal, if not older date, than the 
bones themselves ; for, besides that they were found in a layer 
of vegetable mould which was covered by twenty feet in thickness 
of alternate layers of sand, clay, and gravel, one of the arrow- 
heads (Fig. 28) lay underneath the thighbone of the skeleton, 
the bone actually resting in contact upon it, so that it could not 
have been brought thither after the deposit of the bone ; a fact 
which I was careful thoroughly to investigate." 

Mr. Rau adds the following note on the above : — 

" I am well aware that the reality of Dr. Koch's discovery 
has been doubted by some, although it is difficult to perceive 
why he should have made these statements, if not true, at a 

■' Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis, i860, vol. i. p. 61. 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 85 

time when the antiquity of man was not yet discussed, either in 
Europe or here, and he, therefore, could expect nothing- but 
contradiction, pubHc opinion being- totally unprepared for such 
revelations." 

Mr. Wilson, in defending the genuineness and im- 
portance of Dr. Koch's discoveries, cites Mr. J. W. 




Fig. 28. 



Flint Weapon said to have been found beneath 
THE Skeleton of a Mastodon (i) 



Foster^ as one who knew the explorer in his later years, 
and believed in his skill and integrity. On being ques- 
tioned by Mr. Foster as to the possibility of an error he 
(Dr. Koch) assured him in the most solemn manner that 
his observations and statements were correct. 

Analogous discoveries, suggesting that man was con- 
temporary with the bison {Bison occidentatis) and masto- 
don, are also mentioned^ as having been recently found at 

^ Prehistoric Races of the United States, p. 62. 

^ Congres International, Paris, 1900, pp. 157, 158. 



86 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Wyoming (United States), and at Kimmswick (Missouri); 
but from the want of details no definite opinion can be 
formed as to their archccological value. 

With regard to the subject-matter under the second 
heading, it cannot be doubted that there exists, through- 
out America, a large number of roughly chipped flint 
implements which bear some resemblance to the palaso- 
liths of Europe. These are widely distributed, and are 
found, sometimes on the surface, and sometimes more or 
less buried in the soil ; but, with the exception of form, 
there is no reliable evidence to prove that they are older 
than the common Neolithic arrow-heads and scrapers with 
which they are often associated. The implements dis- 
covered by Dr. Abbot among the sands and gravels at 
Trenton were, for a long time, accepted by many archaeo- 
logists as Palaeolithic, under the belief that the Trenton 
deposits were of glacial origin. Now that the superficial 
portions of these deposits are regarded, on the highest 
authority, as due to blown sands, it is contended that the 
so-called palseoliths were found in them and not in the 
deeper glacial strata. The whole subject was discussed 
in 1897 3.t the meeting of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science held at Detroit, at which 
I was present. The result of this admirably conducted 
controversy was to leave no doubt in my mind that the 
implements from Trenton gravels were of the Neolithic 
period. Their similarity to those found on the sites of 
Indian camps, and elsewhere, in the neighbourhood was 
alone sufficient to taboo them as trustworthy evidence of 
the presence of man in the Quaternary period. 

Under the third head Mr. Wilson figures a Fulgur 
shell showing the form of a mammoth obscurely outlined 
on one of its surfaces, with regard to which he writes : 
" Son aspect ne laisse aucun doute sur son anciennete et 
Ton n'y observe pas de traces d'un travail recent." This 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 87 

relic was found in a cultivated field in the vicinity of 
Holly Oak Station, Delaware, and consequently its 
history is of no archaeological value. The " Lenape 
Stone " found in the neighbourhood of Doylestown, 
Pennsylvania, is 4 inches in length and i^ in breadth 
(Fig. 29). It is worked to a smooth surface, one of which 
shows the incised outline of an elephant along with some 
rude geometrical figures and scratchings (Fig. 30). It 
has two small perforations, each about an inch from its 




Fig. 29. Lenape Stone (Pennsylvania, America) 

extremities, thus reminding one of the stone bracer of the 
Neolithic period of Europe. 

With regard to the reported discovery of human bones 
in a hard breccia at Sarasota, the details are too indefinite 
to call for any remarks. 

We now come to consider the antiquities reported to 
have been found in situ in the auriferous gravels of 
California, chief among which is the celebrated " Calaveras 
skull." Mr. Wilson gives an account of the circumstances 
in which the skull was found, and, after controverting the 
objections raised against its authenticity, accepts it as the 
genuine remains of a man who lived at the time when 
these gravels were being deposited. That the skull came 
to be discredited he attributes, chiefly, to the fact that 
the presence of man at that early time militated against 



88 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

biblical ideas, and also to the satirical effusions of Bret 
Harte, who ridiculed the idea of its great antiquity. The 
following couple of verses, from his geological address 
"To the Pliocene Skull," will show Mr. Harte's method 
of treating this terrible business : — 

" speak, thou awful vestig-e of the earth's creation, — 
Solitary fragment of remains organic ! 
Tell the wondrous secret of thy past existence,— 
Speak, thou oldest primate ! 

" ' Which my name is Bowers, and m}' crust was busted 
Falling- down a shaft in Calaveras County, 
But I'd take it kindly if you'd send the pieces 
Home to old Missouri ! ' " 

It would be utterly hopeless to attempt to wade through 
the vast amount of literature bearing on this controversy 
— scattered, as it is, in so many books and journals on 




Fig. •:;o. Incised Figures on Lenape Stone 



both sides of the Atlantic — or to present a digest of the 
arguments of the various disputants. But this decision 
may be rather an advantage to my readers than other- 
wise, because, so far as I have looked into the matter, 
the disputants seem to be ringing the changes on the 
same materials. Nor would a detailed criticism of evidence, 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 89 

primarily based, to a large extent, on observations and 
statements of inexperienced and non-scientific witnesses, 
be of much value — for there can be no retrospective 
examination of the precise relation of the skull to the 
stratified gravels in which it was found. Probably the 
discoverer never thought of strata, or of looking into 
such a matter, yet this is the crux of the whole controversy. 
The question is not whether a certain person found the 
skull in gravel at the bottom of a deep mining shaft, 
but how, and when, it came to be placed there. My 
object will be best attained by placing against each other 
an epitome of the evidence, as it commended itself to two 
opposing scientists whose bona fides is undoubted. 

Writing in 1892 on the affirmative side of the problem. 
Professor G. F. Wright, d.d., ll.d., thus records his 
opinion of the anthropological materials bearing on the 
antiquity of man in America, from which it will be seen 
that he puts a high value on the evidence furnished by 
the " Calaveras skull." 

" Most interesting- evidence concerning" the antiquity of man 
in America, and his relation to the Glacial period, has come 
from the Pacific coast. During the height of the mining 
activity in California, from 1850 to i860, numerous reports were 
rife that human remains had been discovered in the gold-bearing 
gravel upon the flanks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. These 
reports did not attract much scientific attention until they came 
to relate to the gravel deposits found deeply buried beneath a 
flow of lava locally known as the Sonora or Tuolumne Table 
Mountain. This lava issued from a rent near the summit of 
the mountain-range, and flowed down the valley of the Stanislaus 
River for a distance of fifty or sixty miles, burying everything- in 
the valley beneath it, and compelling' the river to seek another 
channel. The thickness of the lava averages about one hundred 
feet, and so long a time has elapsed since the eruption that the 
softer strata on either side of the valley down which it flowed 
have been worn away to such an extent that the lava now rises 



go ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

nearly everywhere above the general level, and has become a 
striking- feature in the landscape, stretching for many miles as 
a flat-topped ridge about half a mile in width, and presenting 
upon the sides a perpendicular face of solid basalt for a consider- 
able distance near the lower end of the flow. 

" It was under this mountain of lava that the numerous imple- 
ments and remains of man occurred which were reported to 
Professor J. D. Whitney when he was conducting the geological 
survey of California between i860 and 1870. The implements 
consisted of stone mortars and pestles, suitable for use in 
grinding acorns and other coarse articles of food. There 
were, however, some rude articles of ornament. In one 
of the mining shafts penetrating the gravel underneath Table 
Mountain, near Sonora, there was reported to have been dis- 
covered, in 1857, a human jawbone, one portion of which was 
sent by responsible parties to the Boston Society of Natural 
History, and another part to the Philadelphia Academy of 
Sciences, in whose collections the fragments can now be seen. 

" Interest reached a still higher pitch when, in 1866, an en- 
tire human skull with some other human bones was reported to 
have been discovered under the same lava deposit, a few miles 
from Sonora, at Altaville, in Calaveras County, and hence 
known as the 'Calaveras skull.' Persistent efforts were made 
soon after to discredit the genuineness of this discovery. Bret 
Harte showered upon it the shafts of his ridicule, and various 
other persons gave currency to the story that the whole report 
originated in a joke played by the miners upon unsuspecting 
geologists. These attacks were so successful that many 
conservative archaeologists and men of science have refused 
to accept the skull as genuine. 

"Recent events, however, have brought such additional 
evidence to the support of this discovery that it would seem 
unreasonable any longer to refuse to credit the testimony. At 
the meeting of the Geological Society of America, at Washing- 
ton, in January, 1891, Mr. George F. Becker, of the United 
States Geological Survey, who for some years has had charge 
of investigations relating to the gold-bearing gravels of the 
Pacific coast, presented the affidavit of Mr. J. H. Neale, a 
well-known mining engineer of unquestionable character, stat- 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 91 

ing" that he had taken a stone mortar and pestle (Plate IX.), 
together with some spear-heads (which through Mr. Becker he 
presented to the Society), from undisturbed strata of gravel 
underneath the lava of Table Mountain, near Rawhide Gulch, 
a few miles from Sonora. At the same meeting- Mr. Becker 
presented a pestle (Fig. 31), which Mr. Clarence King, the first 
director of the United States Geological Survey, took with his 
own hands out of undisturbed gravel under the same lava de- 
posit, near Tuttletown, a mile or two from the preceding 
locality mentioned. 

" I was so fortunate also as to be able to report to the 
society at the same meeting the discovery, in 1887, of a small 
stone mortar by Mr. C. McTarnahan, the assistant surveyor of 
Tuolumne County. This mortar was found by Mr. McTarna- 
han in the Empire mine, which penetrates the gravel under- 
neath Table Mountain, about three miles from Sonora, and not 
far from the other localities above mentioned. The place where 
the mortar was found is about one hundred and seventy-five 
feet in from the edge of the superincumbent lava, which is here 
about one hundred feet in thickness. At my request this mor- 
tar was presented by its owner, Mrs. M. J. Darwin, to the 
Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, Ohio, in 
whose collection it now can be seen. 

"These three independent instances, each of them authenti- 
cated by the best of evidence, have such cumulative force that 
probably few men of science will longer stand out against it. "^ 

Before proceeding to deal with Dr. Wright's statements 
and conclusions, which as regards clearness and definite- 
ness leave nothing to be desired, I have a few preliminary 
remarks to make, chiefly by way of introducing a new 
combatant on the field of action, viz. Mr. W. H. Holmes, 
Head Curator of the Department of Anthropology, United 
States National Museum. Mr. Holmes has recently pub- 
lished an article- entitled "A Review of the Evidence 
relating to Auriferous Gravel Man in California," which 

^ Man and the Glacial Period, 1892, pp. 294-7. 

" Smithsonian Institution Annual Report for 1899^ pp. 419-72. 



92 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

cannot fail to commend itself to all lovers of truth, on 
account of the spirit of fairness and courtesy which runs 
through all his critical observations, notwithstanding 
their deadly effect on the views of those who believe in 
the existence of Tertiary man on the evidence adduced 
from the auriferous gravels of California. The reasons 
which induced him to reinvestigate the subject are thus 
stated : — 

"During- recent years much has been said and written re- 
garding- the antiquity of man in America, and as opportunity 
has presented, I have eng-ag-ed in the discussion of the subject, 
endeavouring- to determine the exact value of the evidence 
broug-ht forward by the various observers. By far the 
strongest body of data tending to establish the existence of 
man of great antiquity is that emanating from the gold belt of 
California, and first brought together by Professor James D. 
Whitney, State geologist of California, and published in his 
notable work on the auriferous gravels. ^ There is considerable 
literature embodying original observations outside this volume, 
the most important contribution being a paper by Dr. George 
F. Becker, published in the Bulletin of the Geological Society 
of America for 1891. 

" For a long time I have entertained the idea of visiting the 
Pacific slope for the purpose of becoming personally acquainted 
with the region furnishing the evidence and with the people, 
so far as the hand of time has spared them, familiar with the 
golden era of California. I hoped at least to see enough to 
enable me to make up my own mind as to the value of the 
evidence, and it seemed within the range of possibility that 
something decisive in the way of new evidence, or of sidelights 
on the old, might develop — something that would open the way 
to a final settlement of the great questions at issue."- 

Mr. Holmes conducted the anthropological investiga- 
tions, on which his review of ''Auriferous Gravel Man" 

^ The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California, Cam- 
bridg-e, 1879. 

^ Loc. cit., p. 419. 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 93 

is founded, in 1898, under instructions from the Secretary 
of the Smithsonian Institution. 

As to the age of these gravels, it may be interesting to 
note that recent researches by the geologists of the 
United States Geological Survey have not only confirmed 
the correctness of Dr. Whitney's determinations on this 
point, but even "extended the gravel-forming epoch to 
cover the Miocene and probably the greater part of the 
Eocene, thus making comparisons with the close of the 
Glacial period hardly more reasonable than the attempt 
to include the whole group of phenomena within the 
period of biblical record." 

The palasontological remains associated with the gravels 
consist of a number of species of animals, chiefly mam- 
mals (found in a fossil state), mastodon, elephant, rhino- 
ceros, horse, camel, tapir, ox, llama, deer, wolf, and dog. 
"These," says Mr. Holmes, "are all of extinct species, 
and although some may have existed down to Post- 
Pliocene time, as indicated by Dr. Becker, they fall as 
a group naturally within the Neocene (Miocene-Pliocene) 
age." The fossil plants of the gravels are all relegated 
by experts to the same period. According to Professor 
Knowlton, not a single species can be identified with 
living forms. 

On reaching the mining region Mr. Holmes directed 
his attention to the debatable materials from three different 
standpoints or lines of investigation. 

First. The geology of the gravel deposits and the pro- 
found changes brought about by the mining operations. 

" The great gold discoveries began with the influx of miners 
in 1849, ^"*^ during the two or three succeeding decades the 
gravel deposits were dug over to an extent without parallel in 
the history of mining operations. They were first attacked by 
pick and pan, then sluicing was introduced, and later hydraulic 
operations were conducted on a grand scale. Tunnel mining 



94 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

was also extensively carried on, and the mountains were pierced 
by countless shafts, sometimes so close together and so pro- 
found that it seemed almost that the mountains might collapse. "^ 

Second. A study of the implements and utensils from 
the general region was made in order to compare them 
with gravel finds. The result of this was to show that all 
the worked objects, said to have been found in the latter, 
had a decidedly modern aspect. The substantial identity 
of these implements with the familiar relics of the Cali- 
fornian tribes is made apparent by a series of sketches 
and photographs which Mr. Holmes has incorporated in 
his paper. 

Third. The third line of investigation, viz. "the dis- 
tribution of the aboriginal tribes, and their relation to the 
mining areas and mines," is so significant that I must 
quote his remarks in full : — 

" Indian village-sites are scattered over the hills and table- 
lands, and ancient Indian sites were found everywhere. At 
Nevada City, Nevada County, a Digger Indian (Shoshonean 
stock) village was encountered on the margin of the tableland 
overlooking the great gravel mines a mile west of the city. Its 
people were engaged in gathering acorns and grinding them in 
mortars of various shapes. Some of the mortars were worn in 
outcropping masses of granite, or in large, loose bowlders, while 
others consisted of flattish or globular masses of stone, more or 
less modified in shape by artificial means, and it was realised 
that, as the hydraulic work progressed in the mine below, this 
site might be undermined, and that one by one the utensils 
would drop in and become intermingled with the crumbling 
gravels, possibly to be recovered later with every appearance of 
having been embedded with these deposits when they were 
laid down unnumbered centuries before. One of the mortars 
reported by Whitney was obtained from a mine on the western 
slopes of this same hill, and it is easy to see how it could have 
rolled in from an Indian camp-site above, either before or during 

^ Loc. cit., p. 420. 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 95 

the prosecution of mining" operations. The conditions observed 
here were repeated at nearly every mine visited in Nevada, 
Placer, Eldorado, and Calaveras Counties. At Forest Hill, 
Placer County, the Dardanelles mine, extensively worked in the 
early days by Richard Clark and others, has undermined and 
obliterated a half or more of a terraced spur or 'flat,' as such 
features are called in that country, formerly occupied by an 
Indian villagfe. According- to Mr. Clark, who still resides in 
Forest Hill, this site has not been occupied by the natives since 
work began in the mine in 1852, but an hour's search broug"ht 
to lig-ht a dozen mortars and grindingf-stones, twenty or thirty 
rubbing-'Stones and pestles, tog^ether with several varieties of 
smaller tools. As the ground of the site sloped toward the 
mine, most of the larger, and especially the rounder, objects 
must long since have rolled into the great pit, the gravel walls 
of which are on the one side upward of 200 feet in height. 
Many of the objects obtained by me were already in the gullies 
leading down to the mine, and in the preceding half-century 
large numbers must have gone over to become intermingled 
with the gravels, where they would remain for good unless 
some observant miner happened to bring them to light. Speci- 
mens thus found, falling into the hands of such collectors as 
C. D. Voy, would naturally be added to the growing list of 
Tertiary gravel relics. The flat dish or platter found by Voy 
in this or a neighbouring mine is identical in type with several 
of the specimens from the village-site on the brink of the mine. 
A rough roundish mortar and a small handstone were found by 
Professor McGee on a ledge thirty feet below the brink of this 
mine, where they had fallen from above ; and at Todds Valle)-, 
a few miles further southward, a roundish bowlder, some three 
feet in diameter, having a neatly shaped mortar in one side of it, 
was found resting on the bed-rock of a deep mine. This speci- 
men also had undoubtedly fallen in from above. An Indian 
dwelling was situated on the rim of a mine near by, and about 
it were scattered mortars of all kinds. A brush shelter in which 
the women grind acorns, a little higher up than the dwelling, 
contained a fixed mortar with numerous pits and at least a dozen 
pestles, both flattish and cylindrical in shape. 

"These significant relationships of Indian village sites and 



96 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

gravel diggings were repeated everywhere, and although 
Whitney observed the presence of the ' Diggers,' he made the 
mistake of supposing- they used only fixed mortars, that is, 
those worked in the surface of large masses or outcrops of 
rock. The fact is that portable mortars and g-rinding-stones of 
diversified forms are and have been used by Indians in all parts 
of California. It is not to be supposed that miners would pay 
much attention to the origin of relics found by them in the 
mines, since they attached no particular significance to them ; 
so that between the unwary g-eologist, the unthinking miner, 
and the professional collector cultivating a prolific field, it is to 
be expected that many mistakes would be made. "^ 

Having now briefly sketched the disposition of the 
contending forces and the respective armaments with 
which they were equipped, we are in a position to follow^ 
Mr. Holmes in his attack on the actual stronghold in 
which Dr. Wright, Mr. Wilson, and others have so long 
taken refuge. The most formidable redoubt was the 
"Calaveras skull" (Plates Vn.-VHL). 

The legend of the skull is that it was found by a Mr. 
Mattison in February, 1866, while working at the bottom 
of a mine at a depth of 130 feet from the surface. It lay 
near the bottom of a bed of gravel within a few feet of the 
rock bed. According to Whitney's statement, Mattison 
did not at once recognise it to be a skull, being so em- 
bedded and incrustated with earthy and stony material, 
but " thought it to be a piece of the root of a tree." From 
the mine it was carried to the office of a local merchant, 
where, upon being partially cleaned by a clerk, it was 
recognised as a human skull. Subsequently it was sent 
to Dr. Jones, ''an enthusiastic collector of natural history 
specimens," who, regarding the skull as of great interest, 
sent it to the State Geological Survey in San Francisco, 
and thus it fell into the hands of Professor Whitney. In 

^ Loc. ciL, p. 445. 







.^' 



r 



V 










TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 97 

cutting away the incrusting material several fragments of 
bone were found (some of which appeared to belong to a 
smaller individual than the owner of the skull), bones of 
a small mammal, a snail shell, a small wampum or shelf 
bead, and some bits of charcoal. 

Professor Whitney expresses his views on the history 
of the skull as follows : — 

"The skull was unquestionably dug up somewhere, and had 
unquestionably been subjected to quite a series of peculiar con- 
ditions. In the first place, it had been broken, and broken in 
such a manner as to indicate great violence, as the fractures go 
through the thickest and heaviest parts of the skull ; again, the 
evidence of violent and protracted motion, as seen in the 
manner in which the various bones are wedged into the hollow 
and internal parts of the skull, as, for instance, the bones of the 
foot under the malar bone. The appearance of the skull was 
something such as would be expected to result from its having 
been swept, with many other bones, from the place where it was 
originally deposited down the shallow but violent current of a 
stream, where it would be exposed to violent blows against the 
bowlders lying in its bed. During this passage it was smashed, 
and fragments of the bones occurring with it were thrust into 
all the cavities where they could lodge. It then came to rest 
somewhere, in a position where water charged with lime salts 
had access to it, and on a bed of auriferous gravel. While it 
lay there the mass on which it rested was cemented to it by the 
calcareous matter deposited around the skull, and thus the base 
of hard mixed tufa and pebbles which was attached to it when 
it was placed in the writer's hands was formed. At this time, 
too, the snail crept in under the malar bone, and there died. 
Subsequently to this the whole was enveloped by a deposit of 
gravel, which did not afterwards become thoroughly consoli- 
dated, and which, therefore, was easily removed by the gentle- 
men who first cleaned up the specimen in question, they only 
removing the looser gravel which surrounded it."^ 

^ Quoted from Holmes' paper, p. 458 (Whitney, p. 272). 
H 



98 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

On the above report Mr. Holmes comments as follows : — 

"When it is remembered that the fractures exhibited by the 
skull are fresh and sharp, this highly imaginative statement 
loses its force, for the tossing in a torrent over bowlders would 
not only have bruised and abraded the sharp edges of the bone, 
but the loose earth, broken bones, wampum, and shells, instead 
of being packed into the skull, would have been quickly dis- 
lodged and widely scattered by the rushing waters. The facts 
are that the conditions of fracture and the impacting of bones 
of more than one individual, along with other miscellaneous 
articles, in the cavities of the skull, are just such consequences 
as would result from pitching body after body into an Indian 
burial pit, where young and old were jammed into a conglomer- 
ate mass and covered with earth, gravel, and stones. 

"The presence of a wampum bead embedded with earth, bones, 
and pebbles in the skull is a strong argument against antiquity. 
It is not claimed that this shell bead is fossilised, and it would 
seem that it resembles in every way — size, shape, manner of 
boring, and degree of elaboration — the concavo-convex beads 
made from clam shells and worn by members of nearly every 
Indian family in California. That a Tertiary people should have 
made and worn the identical form seems highly improbable. 

" The small snail shell, the fragile Helix mormonum, found 
also in the skull, is much more at home in a modern burial 
place than in the torrent-swept bed of a Tertiary river. The 
species is recent, and I am not aware that it has been found in 
Tertiary formations. 

" It thus appears that the so-called Calaveras skull exhibits 
nothing in its character, condition, or associated phenomena 
incompatible with the theory of recent origin, and very much 
that may be justly construed as favouring that theory."^ 

Among the numerous stories current about the con- 
ditions under which the skull was found, one is to the 
effect that it was put into the mine by one of Mattison's 
neighbours, as a joke, while he was at his dinner. For 
further evidence of this kind see Mr. Holmes' paper. 

^ Loc. cit., p. 468. 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 99 

It seems to be agreed among the controversialists that 
" nearly all the organic matter in the bones had disap- 
peared and a large portion of the phosphate of lime had 
been replaced by the carbonate, indicating a fossilised 
state." But as this is a change which might have occurred 
under favourable conditions in a few hundred years, it 
possesses no value as a test of great antiquity. 

From Dr. Wyman's report, in Whitney's paper, Mr. 
Holmes quotes the following : — 

" First. That the skull presents no sig'ns of having belonged 
to an inferior race. In its breadth it agrees with the other 
crania from California, except those of the Diggers, but sur- 
passes them in the other particulars in which comparisons have 
been made. This is especially obvious in the greater prominence 
of the forehead and the capacity of its chamber. Second. In 
so far as it differs in dimensions from the other crania from 
California it approaches the Eskimo." ^ 

In Mr. Holmes' paper much more will be found calcu- 
lated to deepen the doubts raised about the great antiquity 
of the so-called Calaveras skull, but to my mind enough 
has been said to enable, at least some of my readers, to 
say yea or nay to the following conclusion to which the 
author had finally come after an inspection of the famous 
relic itself. 

" On returning to the East I took the first opportunity of 
visiting Cambridge for the purpose of examining the Calaveras 
skull. Professor Putnam very kindly removed the specimen 
from its resting-place and permitted me to examine it at leisure 
and to handle the loose materials — the lime-cemented earth, the 
bits of bones, and the shell bead — detached by Professor 
Wyman. I had looked forward with great interest to this 
glimpse of the specimen about which so much has been said 
and upon which so much has been and is predicated, and was 
prepared to be duly impressed with its character as a fossil, but 

1 Loc. cit., p. 458. 



loo ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

I was distinctly disappointed. The importance of the skull as 
an index of antiquity has been overestimated. I find myself 
confirmed in the conclusions forced upon me by a consideration 
of the evidence already presented, namely, that the skull was 
never carried and broken in a Tertiary torrent, that it never 
came from the old gravels in the Mattison mine, and that it 
does not in any way represent a Tertiary race of men. If the 
existence of Tertiary man in California is finally proved, it will 
be on evidence other than that furnished by the Calaveras skull. "^ 

Having now disposed of the direct evidence furnished 
by the history of the circumstances in which the skull was 
discovered, we will shortly notice the "recent events" 
which according to Dr. Wright "have brought such 
additional evidence in support of this discovery that it 
would seem unreasonable any longer to refuse to credit 
the testimony." They are three in number. First, the 
affidavit of Mr. J. H. Neale, that he had taken a stone 
mortar and pestle (Plate IX.) together with some spear- 
heads from undisturbed strata of gravel under the lava of 
Table Mountain. 

As a preliminary remark it may be observed that the 
Neale finds were made in 1877, ten years before Dr. 
Becker became aware of the fact and secured a report of 
the discovery to which affidavit was made. According to 
Mr. Holmes, the essential paragraphs of this document 
are as follows : — 

" At a distance of between 1,400 and 1,500 feet from the 
mouth of the tunnel (Montezuma mine), or of between 200 and 
300 feet beyond the edge of the solid lava, Mr. Neale saw 
several spear-heads of some dark rock, and nearly one foot in 
length. On exploring further, he himself found a small mortar 
three or four inches in diameter, and of irregular shape. This 
was discovered within a foot or two of the spear-heads. He 
then found a large, well-formed pestle, now the property of 

^ Loc. cit., p. 468, 



PLATE IX 




i'^^t^mima'fifir^^ 




PESTLE AND MORTAR FROM A MINE UNDER A BED OF LAVA 
IN TABLE MOUNTAIN, CALIFORNIA 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA loi 

Dr. R. I. Bromley, and near by a large and very regular mor- 
tar, also at present the property of Dr. Bromley. All these 
relics were found the same afternoon, and were within a few 
feet of one another and close to the bed-rock, perhaps within 
one foot of it." ^ 

On visiting the mine, which was closed and caved in 
about the mouth with a newly opened tunnel alongside, 
Mr. Holmes describes its site as surrounded by limited 
areas, upon which houses could be built or lodges 
pitched. "All about," he writes, "I found traces of 
native occupancy, and a dozen mortars, pestles, and 
pounding stones were picked up. These did not differ 
in character or material from the corresponding varieties 
of utensils reported from the deep gravels." 

Mr. Holmes' narrative of his interview with Mr. Neale 
is too important to be curtailed. It is as follows : — 

"I took pains to have Mr. Neale tell me the story of the 
finds in all possible detail. The account as related in the work 
of Dr. Becker had evidently passed out of his mind in a large 
degree, as it had also passed out of my own. His statements, 
written down in my note-book during and immediately follow- 
ing the interview, were to the following effect : — 

' ' One of the miners coming out to lunch at noon brought 
with him to the superintendent's office a stone mortar and a 
broken pestle, which he said had been dug up in the deepest 
part of the tunnel, some 1,500 feet from the mouth of the mine. 
Mr. Neale advised him on returning to work to look out for 
other utensils in the same place, and agreeably to his expecta- 
tions two others were secured — a small ovoid mortar, five or 
six inches in diameter, and a flattish mortar or dish, seven or 
eight inches in diameter. These have since been lost to sight. 
On another occasion a lot of obsidian blades or spear-heads, 
eleven in number, and averaging ten inches in length, were 
brought to him by workmen from the mine. They had been 
found in what Mr. Neale called a ' side channel ' ; that is, the 

^ Loc. cit., p. 451. 



I02 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

bed of a branch of the main Tertiary stream, about i,ooo feet 
in from the mouth of the tunnel, and 200 or 300 feet vertically 
from the surface of the mountain slope. These measurements 
were given as estimates only, but at the same time they vi^ere, 
he felt sure, not far wrong. Four or five of the specimens he 
gave to Mr. C. D. Voy, the collector. The others also had 
been given away, but all trace of them had been lost. Mr. 
Neale spoke enthusiastically of the size and perfection of these 
implements, and as he spoke drew outlines of long notched 
blades in the dust at our feet. Some had one notch, some had 
two notches, and others were plain leaf-shape blades. 

" Desiring to find out more concerning these objects, he went 
on to say, he showed them to the Indians who chanced to be 
present, but, strangely enough, they expressed great fear of 
them, refusing to touch them or even to speak about them ; 
but finally, when asked whether they had any idea whence they 
came, said they had seen such implements far away in the 
mountains, but declined to speak of the place further or to 
undertake to procure others. This statement by Mr. Neale 
struck me at once as interesting and significant, and I was not 
surprised when a few days later it was learned that obsidian 
blades of identical pattern were now and then found with 
Digger Indian remains in the burial-pits of the region. The 
inference to be drawn from these facts is that the implements 
brought to Mr. Neale had been obtained from some one of the 
burial-places in the vicinity by the miners, who found no spot 
too sacred to be invaded in the eager search for gold. An 
additional inference is that the Indians were aware of the origin 
of the specimens, and were afraid of them because of the 
mortal dread that every Indian feels of anything connected 
with the dead. How the eleven large spear-heads got into the 
mine, or whether they ever came from the mine at all, are 
queries that I shall not assume to answer, but that they came 
from the bed of a Tertiary torrent seems highly improbable, for 
how could a cache of eleven slender, leaf-like implements 
remain unscattered under these conditions ; how could fragile 
glass blades stand the crushing and grinding of a torrent bed ; 
or how could so large a number of brittle blades remain un- 
broken under the pick of the miner working in a dark tunnel ? 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 103 

For, as Dr. Becker states, ' The auriferous gravel is hard pick- 
ing- ; in large part it requires blasting.' 

"That the affidavit of Mr. Neale does not materially 
strengthen the evidence favoring antiquity I am now fully 
convinced. In his conversation with me he did not claim to 
have been in the mine where the finds were made, and a sworn 
statement vouching for the truth of assertions made by other 
persons, and these other persons unnamed miners, cannot be 
of value in establishing a proposition requiring proofs of the 
very highest order. "^ 

To the above observations, which seem so reasonable 
and adequate that no fair-minded person can object to the 
legitimacy of the conclusion, it is unnecessary for me to 
add anything. 

The second "event" in Dr. Wright's argument is the 
King pestle (Fig. 31), the discovery of which is thus 
described by Dr. Becker : — 

" In the spring of 1869 Mr. Clarence King visited the portion 
of the Table Mountain which lies a couple of miles south-east 
of Tuttletown, and therefore near Rawhide Camp, to search 
for fossils in the auriferous gravels. At one point, close to the 
high bluff of basalt capping, a recent wash had swept away all 
talus and exposed the underlying compact — hard, auriferous 
gravel-beds, which were beyond all question in place. In 
examining this exposure for fossils he observed a fractured end 
of what appeared to be a cylindrical mass of stone. This mass 
he forced out of its place with considerable difficulty on account 
of the hardness of the gravel in which it was tightly wedged. 
It left behind a perfect cast of its shape in the matrix, and 
proved to be a part of a polished stone implement, no doubt a 
pestle. "2 

^ Loc. cit., p. 452. 

^ Bull. Geo. Soc. of America, 1891, p. 193. 

" The unfortunate part," says Mr. Holmes, " about this very noteworthy 
feature of the testimony is that Mr. King- failed to publish it — that he failed 
to give to the world what could well claim to be the most important observa- 
tion ever made by a geologist bearing- upon the history of the human race, 
leaving it to come out throug-h the agency of Dr. Becker, twenty-five years 
later" (loc. cit., p. 454). 



104 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



This remarkable object is now in the United States 
National Museum. It is symmetrical in shape, and 
highly polished from use. Mr. Holmes searched the 
particular site on which it was found, "in the hope of 





Fig, 31, Clarence King Pestle and (32) a Modern Indian One 



finding some trace of human handiwork, but beyond the 
usual Digger mealing-stones scattered over the surface 
nothing was found." So he contents himself by figuring 
it side by side with a typical pestle of the Californian 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 105 

tribes of modern times (Figs. 31 and 32). The striking 
resemblance between the two implements is startling, 
terribly so when we consider that one is modern and the 
other, if genuine, the oldest product of man's handicraft 
that has ever yet been found ! 

The third "event" which Dr. Wright advances in 
support of the genuineness of the Calaveras skull is 
the report of the discovery of a mortar, in 1887, in the 
Empire mine under circumstances similar to those already 
described. But we have already enough of this class of 
evidence, and as the statement is also second-hand, it is 
unnecessary to make further inquiries into the matter. 

Perhaps the best way of arriving at the real merits of 
this remarkable controversy is to put the matter into a 
nutshell by simply defining the question at issue and 
contrasting with it the logical consequences of accepting 
the evidence as true. The following collateral statements 
may be accepted as unchallenged : — 

(i) The "gravels" belong to the Middle Tertiary 
period. 

(2) The fossil plants and animals represented in them 
belong to extinct species, except the Calaveras skull, 
which in point of development appears to be as well 
formed and capacious as the majority of human skulls of 
the present age. 

(3) Objects showing human workmanship, said to have 
been found in the gravels, are practically identical with 
those of the Indian tribes now or formerly inhabiting 
California (Plate X.). 

The real difficulty of the problem may therefore be thus 
stated. People who profess to believe that the Calaveras 
skull belonged to a human being who inhabited California 
when these Tertiary gravels were being deposited, and 
tliat the stone implements, weapons, and ornaments, said 
to have been found in them, are relics of a human civilisa- 



io6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

tion of that period, are upholding opinions which, if true, 
would be absolutely subversive, not only of the doctrine 
of human evolution, but of the principles on which 
modern archaeology has been founded. Writing in 1897 
on the Java skull, ^ I made the following remarks : — 

" Taking- the Java skull at Dubois' estimate of 1,000 cc, that 
of an average European at 1,50000., and that of a gorilla, from 
a specimen in the University of Edinburgh, as stated by Sir 
William Turner, at 590 cc, we observe that Pithecanthropus 
erectus stands about half-way in point of brain capacity between 
modern man and the gorilla. Now, if the geological horizon of 
the Java man is correctly ascertained to be the borderland 
between the Pliocene and Quaternary periods, we can form 
some idea how far we have to travel backwards to reach that 
of the common stock from which men and apes have sprung." 

Compare with this the geological horizon assigned by 
Mr. Holmes to the Californian man. 

" The existence of a Tertiary man, even of the lowest grade, 
has not been yet fully established in any country, and this 
California evidence, therefore, stands absolutely alone. It im- 
plies a human race older by at least one-half than Pithecanthropus 
erectiLs of Dubois, which may be regarded as an incipient form 
of human creature only. "^ 

According to these calculations the cranium of a Cali- 
fornian "auriferous gravel man" would have been of so 
low a type as to be undistinguishable from that of the 
Simian progenitor of Hotno sapiens. But instead of that 
we have in the Calaveras ''find" a skull that could have 
contained the brains of a philosopher of the present day. 

Nor is the handicraft skill of the Tertiary prodigy out 
of joint with the reversal of evolutionary doctrines which 
its existence implies, for he seems to have started life by 
using polished stone implements, ornamented mortars 
and pestles, spear-heads, and other stone and shell objects, 

^ Prehistoric Problems, p. i86. " Loc. cit., p. 470. 



PLATE X 




MORTARS AND OTHER OBJECTS SAID TO HAVE BEEN FOUND 
IN THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS OF CALIFORNIA 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 107 

all of which are equally inexplicable and improbable on 
the hypothesis that they are the productions of human 
beings of that period. On Plate X. are represented a few 
characteristic specimens of these questionable remains, 
copied from photographic illustrations by Mr. Holmes, 
which I think will be sufficient to convince any unpreju- 
diced inquirer that they must be relegated to the present 
Indian civilisation of that continent. The following ex- 
planatory and descriptive notes on these objects are given 
on the same authority : — 

Fig. I. Globular mortar, with cylindrical pestle, found 
in 1861, with other stone relics and the bones of fossil 
mammals, in auriferous gravels, about 16 feet beneath 
the surface, at Kincaid Flat, Tuolumne County. Diameter 
10 inches. Referred to by Whitney.^ 

Fig. 2. Obsidian lance-head, found in 1869, with other 
relics and with mastodon remains, in auriferous gravels, 
10 feet below the surface, at Horse Shoe Bend, Merced 
River, Mariposa County.^ 

Fig. 3. Scoop-shaped utensil of diorite, found in 1864, 
in auriferous gravel, 16 feet below the surface, near 
Oregon Bar, North Fork American River, Placer County. 
Similar specimens have been found in California. 

Fig. 4. Mortar, said to have been found in 1862, in 
auriferous gravel, beneath 14 (or 140 feet) of basalt, and 
200 feet in from the surface of the slope, near the Boston 
Tunnel Company's mine, Table Mountain, Toulumne 
County. Shape only partially artificial, and not peculiar 
to any region. 

Fig. 5. Mortar, found in 1863, with other stone relics, 
and associated with mammalian remains, in auriferous 
gravels, about 16 feet below the surface, in Gold Spring 
Gulch, Tuolumne County.^ This type of mortar is in 
use to-day, and the pestle is the usual form in California. 

' Auriferous Gravels, p. 263. " Ibid., p. 261. •* Ibid., p. 263. 



io8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Fig. 6. Cylindrical mortar, found in 1861, with other 
relics of stone, in auriferous gravel, about 10 feet beneath 
the surface, three miles north-east of Shingle Springs, 
Eldorado County.^ Type not unusual in Central Cali- 
fornia. 

If these and similarly worked objects be accepted as 
genuine relics of the so-called auriferous gravel men of 
California, we must, henceforth, delete from archaeological 
nomenclature such terms as Palceolithic and Neolithic as 
having no longer any chronological significance. Let 
me, however, allow Mr. Holmes to give the final touches 
to the solution of this strange problem. 

"On examining" the art remains it is found that they also 
seem out of place in Tertiary times, that they present a de- 
cidedly modern aspect. Of the fifteen or twenty varieties re- 
ported from the gravels by Whitney and others, all appear to 
be of recent types. They are practically identical with the stone 
implements used by the native tribes of California to-day or in 
the recent past. If these forms are really of Tertiary origin, we 
have here one of the greatest marvels yet encountered by 
science; and perhaps if Professor Whitney had fully appreciated 
the story of human evolution as it is understood to-day, he 
would have hesitated to announce the conclusions formulated, 
notwithstanding the imposing- array of testimony with which he 
was confronted. To suppose that man could have remained 
unchanged physically, to suppose that he would have remained 
unchang-ed mentally, socially, industrially, and aesthetically for 
a million years, roughly speaking (and all of this is implied by 
the evidence furnished), seems in the present state of our know- 
ledge hardly less than admitting a miracle."^ 

To this I will only add that "it is more likely that the 
evidence is false than that the miracle is true." 

Just one final word by way of emphasising the correct- 
ness of Mr. Holmes' line of argument and the general 
conclusions he has arrived at. It has been abundantly 

1 Ibid., p. 265. ^ Loc. cit., p. 424. 



TERTIARY MAN IN CALIFORNIA 109 

proved by Huxley and others that the five-toed progenitor 
of the present-day Equidae lived during the early Tertiary 
period. Since then there has flourished a whole series of 
genera and species, now extinct, which link together the 
former with the latter in a remarkable evolutionary 
sequence of successive transformations. If on the other 
hand we accept the Tertiary origin of the Calaveras 
skull, its original owner, who was a contemporary of this 
five-toed horse, would appear to have propagated his 
species during the vast period which has elapsed since 
then without undergoing any perceptible modification. 
The law of evolution, though thus proved to have been 
rigidly at work on the American continent as regards 
horses and other members of the organic world, would 
seem not to have affected man in that portion of the 
globe. When, however, we contrast with this what has 
taken place in the Old World, we find that, since he 
came on the scene in Quaternary times (which is not 
much more than a quarter of the age of the Calaveras 
man), he has not only undergone some striking bodily 
changes, especially in his cranial development, but also 
has passed through a series of progressive systems of 
civilisation, each characterised by corresponding changes 
in handicraft products. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FORGERY OF ANTIQUITIES 
IN THE BRITISH ISLES 

ONE of the underlying objects of this book is to 
teach, in some small measure, how to eliminate 
spurious relics from the general body of materials 
which is being gradually collected throughout the world, 
as a permanent and trustworthy record of the history of 
humanity and the development of civilisation ; or at least 
to form the constructive basis of such a history. It is by 
no means uncommon in this country to find objects, 
which bear inherent evidence of their modernity, offered 
for sale to collectors and curators of museums as genuine 
antiquities. As a rule, a cursory glance is sufficient for 
skilled persons to detect and reject forgeries of this kind ; 
but, should an individual here and there be taken in, 
there can be no great harm done, as the falsity of such 
objects is sure to be sooner or later discovered. There is 
no necessity, therefore, to make an exhaustive search for 
every instance of fraud, whether successful or not for the 
time being, although it might be in many cases amusing 
to depict the chagrin of a purchaser when he became 
reluctantly convinced that he was duped. We are here 
primarily concerned with forgeries which have a tendency 
to vitiate the sources of knowledge, and thereby to give 
an erroneous bias to future researches ; such as would 
have been the case had the Moulin-Quignon jaw and 
the Calaveras skull been accepted as genuine relics of 



BRITISH FORGERIES iii 

Quaternary and Tertiary man respectively. In this even- 
tuality there would be no alternative but to abandon the 
doctrine of organic evolution which has taken so deep a 
hold on the scientific mind of the present age. Minor 
forgeries are, however, of some importance, inasmuch as, 
when their history is fully traced, they often become the 
means of divulging the ingenious methods by which 
frauds are successfully perpetrated on the unwary. It 
may, therefore, be appropriate to begin this chapter by a 
brief sketch of the career of a notorious forger of pre- 
historic antiquities, commonly known under the pseudonym 
of "Flint Jack." The late Dr. Joseph Stevens, Honorary 
Curator of the Reading Museum, in his short history of 
this strange character, published in 1894, thus introduces 
him to his readers : — 

" That truth is strang^er than fiction we have frequent verifica- 
tions. The police reports often reveal passages in the lives of 
individuals, which, if related in the pages of a novel, would be 
read with doubt, if not with absolute incredulity. It is now 
some years since a poor fellow, who described himself as a 
bricklayer's labourer, was convicted of theft, and imprisoned in 
Bedford Gaol, where, I believe, he died, most of whose life 
was passed in deception, but whose history testifies that he 
possessed ability, and a kind of genius which would have 
enabled him to obtain a comfortable subsistence, if not a re- 
spectable scientific position, had he taken half the pains to be 
honest that it took him to be dishonest. He was at his best 
something" more than a mere forg^er, and his life, apart from its 
moral, is full of interest, from the light it throws on human 
character. He would have been a good practical gfeologist 
probably had he persevered in that line ; and it is well known 
that he made friends among scientific men, who would have 
pushed him forward ; but his love of wandering" and adventure 
mingled with his native duplicity were more than a match for 
his integrity, and his life became a failure. 

"The poor wandering" fellow was best known to fossil 
dealers, curators of museums, and scientific men in the midland 



112 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

and northern counties by the name of * Flint Jack ' ; but he bore 
several other aliases^ such as ' Fossil Willy,' ' Old Antiquarian,' 
' Cockney Bill,' ' Bones,' and ' Shirtless,' all expressing but too 
plainly the habits of life of this singfular individual, whose real 
name was Edward Simpson. He was born at Sleights, near 
Whitby, in Yorkshire, in 1815, but it has been suggested by 
some who were well acquainted with him, and from his dialect, 
which led to his being called 'Cockney Bill,' that he was a 
native of the Metropolis. And in corroboration of this, at a 
later period of his life, when he was taken into custody at Bed- 
ford, he described himself, according to the Bedford Times, as 
' a bricklayer's labourer from the Borough.' Be this as it may, 
it is certain that he lived in his earlier days as a respectable 
servant in the house of Dr. Young, the historian of Whitby ; 
and that afterwards he was for six years in the service of Dr. 
Ripley, of Whitby, with whom he frequently went fossil-hunt- 
ing; but on whose death in 1840 he appears to have commenced 
seeking fossils on his own account, which he disposed of to 
local geologists and dealers. It was around Whitby that he 
acquired a good deal of his knowledge of fossils and their 
localities. Here also he gained some knowledge of flint imple- 
ments, the fabrication of which rendered him subsequently so 
dexterous as to succeed in gulling, not merely the public, but 
learned ones who had spent the whole of their lives in archaeo- 
logical pursuits. . . . 

" At the time of our first introduction to Flint Jack at Whitby 
he was looked on as an intelligent young fellow, and went by 
the familiar name of ' Fossil Willy.' In 1841 he extended his 
dealings to Scarborough, Filey, and Bridlington, traversing the 
various districts on foot, and, in addition to finding fossils, 
became expert, and was often employed in cleaning and setting 
up specimens. But nothing up to this time had led to any 
suspicion as to his honesty. The neighbourhood of Bridlington 
has long been known as good hunting-ground for Neolithic flint 
implements, and it was here, according to his own statement, 
that it first entered his head to become a forger. He was 
shown a flint arrow-head, and asked if he could imitate it. 
This was the first step in Jack's decline, and led to the gradual 
abandonment of search for genuine articles, and the substitu- 



BRITISH FORGERIES 113 

tion of imitations. He thought he could more easily obtain 
money by selling forged objects than by hunting over the fields 

for implements and in the pits for fossils As the 

business he had now engaged in required some knowledge of 
antiquities, Jack availed himself of the opportunities which 
presented themselves of visiting public and private collections, 
in order to observe the forms of urns, heads, seals, and other 
relics, and the materials of which they were constructed, for 
his ambition, or rather perhaps his greed, had already suggested 
the fabrication of various curiosities, in addition to flint imple- 
ments, likely to meet the reception of the public. Thus life 
went on with greater or less success till about 1844, when he is 
found assisting collectors in making up their sets of implements. 
Genuine ones when procurable without much effort ; but when 
such were not forthcoming to meet the demand Jack substituted 
forgeries. Among his patrons was a Mr. Tindall, who made 
a purchase of thirty-five implements, in consequence, as he 
himself stated, of their diff"ering from any of his own discovery. 
But Mr. Tindall complained that they were very dirty, and he 
could not clean them in cold water. So he boiled a few of the 
dirtiest in a saucepan, and on draining off the water he found 
that several of them had been made up of splinters of flint 
which Flint Jack had stuck together with boiled alum to render 
them perfect in appearance." 

Henceforth it would appear that the forgery of antiqui- 
ties became the governing principle of Flint Jack's life ; 
and so he continued to practise his art as a means of 
livelihood, apparently oblivious of the fact that it involved 
any moral delinquency. On one occasion, when his goods 
were characterised as modern, he frankly admitted the 
charge, but added that they " might be taken for what 
they were — good imitations of the originals," His earlier 
and later peregrinations were largely confined to the mid- 
land and northern counties of England, but as his practices 
were gradually found out, he had constantly to seek for 
fresh hunting-ground. He visited Scotland and Ireland ; 
but his Scottish tour was not a success, the people being, 
I 



114 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

as he said, "too cannie, and the journey would hardly 
bear expenses." He was, however, much gratified with 
his visit to Ireland, where he " left behind him many a 
fine celt, arrow-head, hammer, and spear." 

That the forger did not confine his skill to the manu- 
facture of flint implements we have many examples on 
record. Thus at Malton he appeared one day wearing a 
piece of ancient armour which " he professed to have dis- 
covered near the encampments at Cawthorne ; whereas 
the truth was that he had fashioned it out of an old tea- 
tray, which he had picked up on his journey. At first he 
designed it for a shield, but not being able to manage a 
boss "in the centre, he turned it into a Roman breastplate. 
This article he disposed of in Malton ; and it is now, we 
believe, in company with an ancient stone hammer, in a 
collection of antiquities at Scarborough." 

Hearing of the discovery of a Roman milestone he 
resolved to make a similar relic. Having found a suitable 
stone for this purpose near Bridlington, he succeeded so 
well that he sold it to a doctor at Scarborough for five 
pounds for preservation in a museum. At Cambridge, 
according to his own statement, "he drove a roaring 
trade " in antiquities. And on his first visit to London 
during a whole year " he found the demand for celts and 
other flint implements fully up to the measure of his power 
to manufacture them." 

While in the metropolis he became known to Professor 
Tennant, an eminent lecturer and dealer of fossils in the 
Strand, who employed him to obtain fossils and rock 
specimens. 

"He had the coolness," writes Dr. Stevens, "to tell the 
Professor ' that there were plenty of his things in the British 
Museum — and very g^ood things they were, too.' In fact he 
gloried in his ability to form counterfeits, and appeared to think 
his neat deceptions were to be received quite as clever matters 



BRITISH FORGERIES 115 

of business. A gentleman who had a valuable collection was 
shown a specimen by Professor Tennant, which the gentleman 
thought would make a rare addition to his collection, ' You 
are sure of its antiquity,' said the Professor. ' I have no doubt 
of it,' said the collector ; and he named the remote period to 
be assigned to the specimen. ' I am sorry to tell you,' said 
Mr. Tennant, ' that I saw it made last week.' " 

At the request of Professor Tennant and some others 
interested in prehistoric archceology, Jack exhibited his 
skill as a maker of implements at a meeting of the 
Geologists' Association, at their rooms in Cavendish 
Square. The date of this meeting was January 7th, 
1862. At the conclusion of a paper "On the Ancient 
Flint Implements of Yorkshire, and the Modern Fabrica- 
tion of Similar Specimens," Jack was invited by the presi- 
dent (Professor Tennant) to mount the platform and ex- 
hibit his skill. The result is thus described : — 

" He undid the knots of his red handkerchief, which proved 
to be full of fragments of flint. He turned them over and 
selected a small piece, which he held, sometimes on his knee, 
sometimes in the palm of his hand, and gave it a few careless 
blows with what looked like a crooked nail. In a few minutes 
he had produced a small arrow-head, which he handed to a 
gentleman near, and went on fabricating another with a facility 
and rapidity which proved long practice. Soon a crowd had 
collected round the forger, while his fragments of flint were 
fast converted into different varieties of arrow-heads, and ex- 
changed for sixpences among the audience." 

Through the kindness of the Director and Curator 
of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, I am en- 
abled (Plate XI.) to place before my readers photo- 
graphic illustrations of selected specimens from a small 
collection of Flint Jack's forgeries exhibited in the 
Museum. The iron crook shown is one of the tools he 
used in chipping the flints. 

As time went on Flint Jack's occupation became less 



ii6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

remunerative, probably from his notoriety having be- 
come widely known, but still more from his habits of 
hard drinking. He himself regarded this vice as the 
chief cause of his misfortunes, as, in referring to the year 
1846, he is reported to have said : — 

" In that year I took to drinking, the worst job yet. Before 
that I mostly had five pounds in my pocket, but since then 
I have often been in misery and want." 

The first appearance of Flint Jack in Salisbury was in 
1863, but his success in selling implements, though stated 
(falsely, of course) to have been found at Stonehenge, 
was not great. During his stay here the late Mr. Edward 
J. Stevens, Hon. Curator of the Blackmore Museum, em- 
ployed him to make a representative series of implements 
which may still be seen in that Museum. They are in a 
case, along with a number of other home and foreign 
forgeries, and consist of stone axes (some perforated), 
flakes and arrow-points of flint, a sling-stone, a saw, etc. 
In describing these forgeries, Mr. Stevens makes the 
following observations : — ^ 

"Many 'amateur' forgers can make equally good, if not 
better, flint hatchets, arrow-heads, and scrapers than Flint Jack 
and his professional brethren. There were heroes before Aga- 
memnon, and forgers of flint implements before Flint Jack. 
About the year 1855 ' there was a manufactory of stone 
hammer-heads, ancient British urns, and flint weapons of all 
descriptions on the eastern coast of Yorkshire, principally 
carried on by one William Smith, alias Skin and Grief, or 
Snake Willy. Not only arrow-heads and celts of all sizes, but 
rings, knives, saws, and even fish-hooks of flint were produced, 
some of which have been engraved as genuine in local archaeo- 
logical publications. Since then the manufacture has spread 
southwards, and many are made in Suffolk. They have also 
been produced in Kent, and recently the most accomplished of 

1 Cafalogtte, p. 158. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 117 

the forgers, Edward Simpson, alias Flint Jack, has made more 
than one public exhibition of his skill in flint-working in 
London.'" 

With the following remarks from the pen of Sir John 
Evans, ^ our brief notice of Flint Jack may be fittingly- 
brought to a close : — 

" Some well-made examples of abnormally large arrow-heads, 
to which a polished surface has been given by grinding with 
sand, have been fabricated in Ireland. The works of the 
notorious Edward Simpson, or Flint Jack, are coarser and 
less deceptive. When from their abundance his forgeries lost 
their sale, he earned a somewhat more honest penny by publicly 
exhibiting his process of manufacture. After I had communi- 
cated to the Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology, held at Nor- 
wich in 1868, a paper on the manufacture of stone implements 
in early times, I was honoured by a visit from Flint Jack, who 
was anxious to see some of my work, as ' he believed that 
I was likely to attain to an equal degree of eminence with him- 
self.'" 

With regard to forgeries in general, Dr. Stevens makes 
the following excellent observations : — 

"Collectors should be on their guard in purchasing speci- 
mens, as members of the fraternity to which Flint Jack be- 
longed are not rare at the present day (1894). A few forgeries 
may be seen in the Reading Museum, placed there as a warn- 
ing, and not for imitation ; and with the object of demonstrat- 
ing the possibility of shaping implements by means of another 
stone. The Museum further contains some well-wrought 
arrow-heads, awls, and bodkins in bone, from Wellingford, 
which the maker attempted to pass off as genuine. 

"The fabrication of flint implements for sale appears at the 
present moment to be largely carried on around London, the 
imitations extending to implements of both the Palceolithic 
and Neolithic series. In a work recently published on stone 
implements, entitled Man^ the Primeval Savage, by Mr. Worth- 

^ Loc. ciL, p. 15. 



ii8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

ington G. Smith, a short chapter is devoted to forgeries. 
These forgeries are largely manufactured, particularly at Stoke 
Newington, and are described as good imitations, and capable 
of deceiving experienced judges. They are sold by the men 
who work in the gravel-cuttings, but are made by mechanics 
expert in the use of the hammer, such as carpenters and 
plasterers, and sold to the men for small sums. They are then 
disposed of as genuine, and recently discovered, to visitors who 
have evidently money at their command, but who are quite 
ignorant of the character of these productions. It is, however, 
congratulatory to the genuine investigator that some of these 
overhasty curio-hunters have been bitten to the amount often 
of sovereigns for single implements, and in one instance to 
even five pounds for an unusually fine specimen." 

" The Stoke Newington forgers found out that their imitations 
lacked the colour, polish, and general softness of feature, and 
the natural abrasions present on ancient specimens, the result 
of time, chemical changes, and friction against other stones 
while drifting. These imperfections they set about remedying 
by resorting to various cunning devices, such as brushing their 
forgeries over with hard brushes, shaking them up in sacks with 
other stones and sand, and lastly, to give the definite surface 
stain, boiling them in saucepans with old rusty nails, fragments 
of iron, etc. But some observing purchasers detected these 
devices, and found that reboiling removed the ochreous colour 
of the surface, leaving the implements grey. But the forger, 
not to be outdone, resorted to longer boiling, having found that 
the greater length of time the tools were boiled the more 
permanent became the ochreous stain. In the case of polished 
Neolithic implements the grindstone is resorted to, but here the 
microscope reveals that the coarse, straight friction lines are 
not the result of long-continued hand-polishing." ^ 

But, as already observed, such isolated stone and flint 
forgeries, however closely they may imitate genuine speci- 
mens, have little effect in modifying our knowledge of the 
early civilisations to which they may be supposed to 

^ Op. cit., p. 17. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 119 

belong ; for no modern forger has ever yet acquired 
anything like the skill and efficiency in workmanship 
displayed in the productions of the real prehistoric stone- 
workers. Those of the former are always clumsy imitations, 
and seldom remain undetected when brought under the 
purview of an experienced person. The finding of false 
palceoliths in certain localities, if accepted as genuine, 
might possibly be the means of raising a controversy 
regarding conclusions previously arrived at, such as the 
geographical distribution of the people who used Palaeo- 
lithic flint implements. For instance, the discovery of 
such implements in the Pleistocene gravels of Scotland, 
or Scandinavia, would considerably alter our present 
notions of man's relation to the Glacial period ; but no 
archaeologist would accept such a statement without 
satisfying himself as to its bona fides. Nor would a single 
discovery be enough ; for there are many ways in which 
forgers may succeed in bewildering for a time the most 
experienced archseologist. Objects representing a class 
of known antiquities, and said to be dug up in some 
specified locality, may appear in such numbers as to lead 
to the presumption that they are genuine. As an illustra- 
tion of this category the following recorded by Sir John 
Evans may be cited : — 

" Some thirty years ago ^ an action was brought by a London 
dealer in antiquities against the AthencBiim newspaper for libel 
in asserting that a series of objects in his possession were 
forged. The dealer, like many others, had probably been taken 
in. He had purchased for a considerable sum a large collection 
of objects in lead or pewter, which were said to have been 
found during the formation of a new dock at Shadwell. Many 
of them were supposed to be what are known as pilgrims' signs, 
and all were said, on no mean authority, to be evidently con- 
nected with some religious proceedings, though it was admitted 

^ Loc. ci\y p. 12. 



120 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

there was considerable inconsistency between many of the 
articles, which, however, was to be accounted for by their 
belongfing to different ages. 

" There were crowned monarchs in ecclesiastical vestments, 
knights in various kinds of armour, archbishops, bishops, and 
priests with mitres, croziers, and different emblems, incense- 
cups, patens, ewers, reliquaries, and vessels of all shapes, 
besides numerous medallions, and plaques with loops for sus- 
pension. The great variety of form and the strangeness of 
some of the devices seemed to raise a presumption that such a 
fertility of imagination and such dexterity of workmanship could 
hardly be possessed by any single forger, and therefore that, 
though exceptional, these objects were to be accepted as 
genuine. 

" Unfortunately for such a view, the late Mr. Charles Reed 
succeeded in discovering the place of the manufacture, and 
even exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries some of the 
moulds in which the relics were cast. By way of a test, 
inquiry was made of the vendor of the antiques whether he 
had come across a figure like a drawing that was produced. 
The answer was ' No ; but I think that I have seen some- 
thing like it in the hands of one of my mates. Can you lend 
me the drawing ? ' The sketch was lent, and within a few 
days the vendor reappeared triumphant, and bringing with 
him an ecclesiastical figure in metal, with an inscription in 
Gothic letters on the base — 

SA-nacas FKBRiaATVS 

" The fact is that the whole fraud was perpetrated by a couple 
of illiterate mud-rakers, who prepared their moulds in plaster of 
Paris, cast their pseudo-antiques in a mixture of lead and pewter, 
immersed them for some time in a bath of nitric acid, and 
finally, having daubed them with a coating of river mud, offered 
them for sale to inquiring antiquaries." 

In 1869, at a meeting of the British Archceological 
Association, Mr. H. Syer Cuming read an instructive 



BRITISH FORGERIES 121 

paper on the forgery of antiquities, of which he laid 
specimens on the table. 

" In commencing these few remarks on forgeries," writes 
Mr. Cuming, " I must beg to warn the lovers of antiques that 
the various objects of zinc which made their debut in 1866 con- 
tinue to be manufactured, and are still offered for sale wherever 
new ground is broken. Be it remembered they are of vastly 
superior fabric to any of the worthless rubbish of lead and cock- 
metal turned out by Messrs. ' Billy and Charley,' of Rosemary 
Lane, Tower Hill, and are well calculated to deceive the un- 
suspicious, especially the square bells of Indian type, first seen 
in the market towards the close of the year 1867, and of which 
Mr, J. W. Barly has secured some characteristic examples. 
Whoever the forger and his accomplices may be, he and they 
may rest assured that they will not for ever elude detection, 
and I say this in the hope, and almost with the certainty, that 
these words will be read and pondered over by the chief culprit 
in the fraud." 

He then exhibited seven pseudo-antique medallions of 
cock-metal, "the work of the notorious scamps 'Billy 
and Charley,'" which he showed to be "copies (with a 
difference) from Byzantine coins of the seventh and tenth 
centuries," and which had the following history : — 

"These seven medallions (with one other) were brought late 
at night to the shop of a dealer in odds and ends, by a man 
with a white apron rolled up round him, and having the appear- 
ance of a mechanic, who stated that he became possessed of 
them about three years since, and knew them to be very rare 
and valuable. The dealer thought them very curious, and after 
much haggling about price, became a purchaser, in the full be- 
lief, as he said, that he had acquired ' a little fortune,' One of 
these eight medallions he sold next day, but for what sum 
I could not ascertain ; and soon afterwards he was informed 
that he had been taken in," 

Mr. Cuming's next specimens were also by the same 
forgers, viz. three ectypes in lead of late medieval 



122 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

spoons, professed to have been exhumed in the construc- 
tion of the Charing Cross Railway Station, Strand. 

"Such tricks," he writes, "as the foregoing unfold to us 
a system of chicanery deserving heavy punishment ; but still 
worse frauds are practised by the firm in Rosemary Lane. 
Ancient stone, bone, and terra-cotta materials are re-wrought 
in strange forms by Messrs. 'Billy and Charley.' Fragments 
of Samian vessels are made to assume the contour of beads, 
spindle-whorls, stars and crescents, and of fish and flowers such 
as seldom swim in the water or blossom on the earth. Among 
other of the doings of these impostors is the incising of figures 
and carving of legends on genuine Roman iegulae, thus con- 
verting ordinary objects into things which command prices 
commensurate with their apparent rarity. Those who desire 
to inspect an example of their craft may gratify their wish by a 
visit to the Guildhall Museum, where they may see a so-called 
real antique Roman brick, and read thereon, in clear and well- 
cut letters nearly seven-eighths of an inch in height, VNDINIC, 
which we may presume is intended to pass for Lundini civitas, 
the notion being derived from the epigraph, PRBLON, stamped 
on some of the tegulae exhumed in the metropolis. " 

After some further illustrations of the ingenuity dis- 
played by forgers, he concludes his remarks as follows : — 

"In concluding these remarks, I may be permitted to state 
that the opinion I pronounced respecting the pretended ' find ' 
of lithic remains and an earthen urn at Blackheath, as detailed 
in this Journal (xiv. p. 94), has lately received an unexpected 
confirmation. The person who purchased the pseudo-antiques 
in 1857 has by chance met with a portrait of ' Flint Jack,' and 
at once recognised it as the likeness of his old deceiver, who 
was no other than the Yorkshire forger, who twelve years back 
seems to have been trying his luck in Surrey. I exhibit a 
sample of the Blackheath 'find,' and other arrow-blades, etc., 
wrought in black and grey flint, by the aforesaid chevalier 
d'industrie, whose ingenuity, it is to be regretted, was in so 
many instances rewarded by only too great a measure of 
success." 



BRITISH FORGERIES 123 

THE FORGERY OF ANTIQUITIES IN IRELAND 

Two years ago, when visiting the Giant's Causeway, in 
Ireland, I saw, among the nick-nacks exposed for sale, a 
number of objects in the form of flint spear- and arrow- 
points, stone axes, etc., all of which showed a marvellous 
appearance of age, especially the flints, which had a grey- 
ish patina. The vendor, a comely girl, informed me that 
the antiquarian objects were found in the neighbourhood, 
but, very prudently, could not say what might be their 
age. While chatting with a fellow-visitor who was bar- 
gaining for a fine arrow-head with serrated edges, the 
price of which had been finally reduced to one shilling, an 
experienced Irish antiquary, one of our party, thinking I 
was about to become a purchaser, whispered in my ear, 
" Don't buy any, they are all modern." This last autumn 
some of my Irish archaeological friends informed me that the 
industry of manufacturing stone implements still goes on 
merrily along the Antrim coast. The latest dodge to dis- 
pose of these spurious objects is to bury them in localities 
known to yield genuine antiquities. Here tourists and 
tyro archaeologists are unsuspiciously led to make excava- 
tions, of course under the guidance of some knowing one, 
and when any of these twentieth-century objects turn up 
in the shape of spear-heads, arrow-points, or axe-hammers, 
etc., they are unhesitatingly accepted as genuine products 
of bygone ages. Mr. Thomas Plunket, of Enniskillen, 
member of the Royal Irish Academy and of the Royal 
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, sends me the following 
story, which shows what serious results may hang on a 
single incident of imposition. In this case, had the fraud 
not been detected, no one could well deny that the yew 
relic here referred to furnished some precise evidence of 
the rate at which peat grew : — 

*'I am in the habit," writes Mr. Plunket, "of purchasing 
any antiquities that come within my reach, and sometimes I 
purchase objects that are worthless with the view of securing- 



124 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

whatever antiquarian finds may be unearthed in my own or 
neighbouring counties. Some years ago a man brought me 
what appeared to be a branch of an ancient bog yew tree, the 
two ends of which were originally cut or dressed with a knife, 
having a crook at each end formed by two minor branches 
projecting from the main branch — an object which could be 
utilised for suspending articles on one of the crooks while the 
other was fixed to a wall. The man told me he found it while 
digging turf at a depth of twelve feet from the surface, and its 
appearance bore testimony to the fact that it had lain long in 
peat. As I put little value on the object I was reluctant to buy 
it, and so told him that Mr. George Stewart, manager of the 
Provincial Bank, who was also a keen collector of antiquities, 
would likely buy it from him. As he was leaving I told him the 
crook was not so old as the depth he found it would indicate. 
Before applying to Mr. Stewart he repaired to a little ' eating- 
house ' and, with- a sharp-pointed knife, cut or incised rudely 
the following figures, 1321, and filled or rubbed into the fresh 
cuts liquidpeat or soot. Mr. Stewart at once bought the object 
thus manipulated. Let me here mention that about six months 
previous to the above incident I had published in the Irish 
ArchcBological Journal 2^n article on the growth of a deposit of 
peat that slowly accumulated over a cairn at Toppet Mountain. 
When Mr. Stewart secured the crook he showed it to the Rev. 
Dr. Hughes, a mutual friend of us both, and in due course 
the latter paid me a visit to inform me that Mr. Stewart had 
evidence which quite upset my article as to the slow growth 
of peat. A few days after I called and had an interview with 
Mr. Stewart regarding the matter, when he at once produced 
the stick with the two crooks and handed it to me for inspection. 
When my eye fell on the figures I could not suppress a smile, 
and Mr. Stewart, seeing the expression on my face, asked if 
I had seen this find before he had bought it. ' Yes,' said I, 
'but there was no date on it when I saw it.' Although Mr. 
Stewart was a Fellow of the Archaeological Society, he did not 
detect this forgery." 

In my Lake Dwellings of Europe'^ I have described and 

1 pp. 360-2. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 125 

illustrated two stone amulets and a number of inscribed 
bone pins, reported to have been found on the crannog of 
Ballinderry, County Meath, which I then regarded as 
forgeries, basing my opinion on their technique and 
peculiarities of workmanship ; and since then this opinion 
has been rather strengthened than otherwise. 

The following notes on forgeries in the north of 
Ireland were kindly communicated to me by that well- 
known veteran antiquary, Mr. W. J. Knowles, of Bally- 
mena, with regard to which he writes as follows (12th 
May, 1903) : — 

" The first is copied from a paper on Irish Beads and Amulets 
which I read to the Royal Historical and Archaeological Associa- 
tion of Ireland in 1880. The second is the case I told you when 
you called here. The third item is one which I mentioned in the 
correspondence portion of the Ulster Journal of Archceology, now 
being published. ^ I do not just now remember any more jokes, 
but, of course, there is any amount of Information about 
forgflng and retouching of genuine articles, so as to improve 
their appearance and help their sale." 

" I. Before leaving the subject of stone ornaments, I may 
mention that a few years ago a larger number of stone beads 
than we usually meet with was thrown on the market. If I may 
so express It. A certain dealer not finding a sufficient supply 
for his customers among the farmers and labourers, took to 
manufacturing them, and I have been told that he would sit up 
all night manufacturing these, and also bronze objects, clay 
urns, and war clubs, so as to supply pressing orders. From 
this energetic manufacturer the forged beads passed into the 
hands of other dealers, who, in their anxiety to get rid of them, 
would place a considerable number of the forgeries and a few 
good and tempting objects in one lot which could not be broken. 
All or none must be taken. The spurious beads were made 
chiefly of the bole and lithomarge now turned out plentifully 
wherever iron ore is mined In county Antrim ; but they were 
so rudely made that no one of any judgment could be imposed 

1 Vol. ix. 



126 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

on by them. When a dealer got a lot of these no amount of 
reasoning- would make him believe, or I should rather say 
admit, that they were forgeries. His answer would always be, 
'Nobody could make these things nowadays.' In order to 
convince one of these men, I procured a piece of lithomarge, 
which I may say is quite soft, easily cut with a knife, and takes 
a fine polish by merely rubbing it, and frdm this I formed a 
very neat bead, which I ornamented with concentric rings, put 
on a little clay here and there, and stuck a little piece of cobweb 
in the hole to show that it had lain in the house for a long time, 
and then took it to my friend the dealer, saying, with a long 
face, that I was afraid it was a forgery. Not at all, he 
asserted ; it was perfectly genuine. Did I not see this and that 
mark of ' anteekwity ' about it, and gave it as his most decided 
opinion that no man could make such an object in the present 
day. After I had him fairly committed I confessed the trick, 
and he declared he would never believe that half the things he 
met with were genuine after that. He then asked me if I 
would just lend it to him that he might show it to others to see 
if they would be deceived as well as himself, to which I con- 
sented — made him a present of it, in fact — hoping that I was 
now in a fair way of stopping the forging business. Thinking 
no more of the matter, I was shortly afterwards on a visit to 
my friend Canon Grainger, who pulled out his latest purchases 
to let me see them, when, to my astonishment, there was con- 
spicuous among the lot my lithomarge forgery. I asked him 
how he had got it, and he informed me he had purchased it, 
having no suspicion that it was spurious. I afterwards asked 
from the dealer an explanation of his conduct, but his answer 
was : ' I did not sell it to him ; I sold him the lot, and gave 
him the forgery into the bargain.'^ 

" 2. Tom McClean, who makes all the rude arrow- and spear- 
heads that are offered for sale to tourists at the Giant's Cause- 
way, once told me how he occasionally got a few genuine 
arrow-heads. The objects manufactured by Tom are often very 
large, especially those he carries about with him in his pockets. 
When he goes into a house to inquire about elf stones and 

^ From Journal Roy. Hist, and Arch, Assoc. Ireland, vol. v. fourth series, 
p. 526. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 127 

other antiquities, he will probably be shown a few arrow-heads 
by the good wife of the house, which he puts on his hand along- 
with some of his own manufacture. When she sees that he is 
only fooling and not going to buy, she tells him to give her her 
arrow-heads and be gone about his business. He then holds 
out his hand with his own big forgeries mixed up with her 
smaller genuine articles, and says, ' There, dear, just take your 
pick, for I cannot tell which is yours or which is mine. And,' 
he added, ' she alwa)'s takes the big ones.' 

"3. Tom also manufactures burial urns, but he only sun- 
dries them. Once he had a nicely ornamented specimen, which 
he sold to a gentleman who took a fancy to it, but having little 
knowledge of antiquities he had no idea that it was a forgery. 
Thinking it smelt rather strongly of peat smoke, he put it in a 
basin of water to steep overnight, but in the morning the urn 
had disappeared, and there remained in its stead a quantity of 
shapeless clay." 

FALSE ANTIQUITIES IN SCOTLAND 

There is a compartment of one of the wall-cases in the 
National Museum of Antiquities, in Edinburgh, devoted 
to the exhibition of some patent forgeries, which for one 
cause or another have found here a resting-place, among 
which the following may be noted : A Roman lamp, a 
bronze palstave with a side loop, a small dish with side 
handles, seven metal daggers, a stone axe, two small 
urns, a human figure in lead 6| inches in height, four 
medals of lead and one of brass, five Roman coins, a 
copper plate, inscribed '''' Rohertus Scotoriim Rex.,^^ said 
to have been found at Dunfermline ; another Latin in- 
scription is on a small marble slab said to have been 
found in 1811, when demolishing the old church at 
Falkirk. — "FUNERATVS Hic dezn rob. graham ille 

EVERSVS VALL. SEVERVS A.C. Di5 FERGVSIOVS II. R. SCO." 
On the other side there is also an inscription — "FALKIRK 

M-NAST FVN ; MAL= III. 1057." 

That lucrative motives generally underlie archceological 



128 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

forgeries will be readily conceded ; but in some remark- 
able instances there can be no question that the vis a 
tergo has no meaner object than to raise a laugh at the 
expense of the investigators. A typical case of this kind 
occurred in my own experience while excavating an 
ancient " kitchen midden " at Elie, on the Fifeshire coast. 
It is needless to give the details of the incident,^ but the 
following report of it appeared in the local paper : — 

" It is rumoured that some would-be wits 'planted' a piece 
of rude stone carving' which had once been seen about the 
Ferry, along- with a rusty chisel, hoping for a laugh at the 
antiquary's expense ; but the joke did not come off, as the 
searchers at once recognised the fraud." 

Were 1 to deny to these "would-be wits" (for they are 
all known) a place among the category of gentlemen 
they would be very indignant. 

One of the most dangerous, or rather successful, 
methods of misleading arch^ologists is when novel 
relics, outre in character and appearance, are represented 
as associated with others the antiquity of which cannot 
be a matter of doubt. To this category must be assigned 
the extraordinary objects recently found on the so-called 
crannogs of Dumbuck and Langbank, in the estuary of 
the Clyde, as well as those previously recorded as emanat- 
ing from the hill-fort of Dunbuie, in the same neigh- 
bourhood. The controversy raised over these discoveries 
brings into prominence problems of the highest import- 
ance to British archaeologists. It is no longer a question 
of a few doubtful objects, but of a new civilisation of 
which hitherto not a trace has been found within the 
British Isles. The relics from these stations can be 
readily divided into two groups, each group presenting 
totally different characteristics. Their most astounding 

^ See Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxv. p. 291. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 129 

feature is that, while one group in each station is quite in 
harmony with the antiquities generally found in analo- 
gous situations throughout the Scottish archasological 
area, the other three groups have such a family likeness 
that any tyro would at once classify them as products of 
the same civilisation. These latter consist of objects of 
slate and shale in the form of spear-heads, pendants, 
perforated discs, etc., variously ornamented with incised 
linear patterns, dots, and circles ; rough splintery frag- 
ments of sandstone with symmetrically arranged small 
depressions and concentric circles, reminding one of the 
cup-and-ring markings on boulders and rock-surfaces ; 
portions of bones marked with straight and slanting 
lines in such a manner as to suggest some kind of cryptic 
writing like ogams ; grotesque images of shale in human 
form, and a face cut on the inside of a limpet shell ; 
oyster shells (some beach-worn and others fresh-looking) 
ornamented with sharply-cut scratches, etc. 

The opinions and theories formulated by the numerous 
writers who have endeavoured to throw light on these 
remarkable discoveries may be classified under three 
heads. 

(i) That the tout ensemble of the relics and structures 
from all these localities represent a people and civilisation 
of the Stone Age. 

(2) That the spear-heads of slate and shale, ornamented 
or otherwise, are not weapons, but "sacred things," 
indicating, like the ornamented stones, idols, amulets, etc., 
a survival of an ancient religious cult. From this point 
of view it is argued that the structural habitations may 
not necessarily date back to the earlier periods of Scottish 
civilisation. 

(3) That the strange objects are not genuine relics of 
the people who constructed and inhabited these habita- 
tions, but modern fabrications which, by some mysterious 



I30 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

and unknown means, have become associated with the 
genuine remains. 

As the mystery which lies at the bottom of this 
controversy has not yet been completely fathomed, it 
is necessary on archaeological grounds to examine the 
alleged facts and inferences founded on them with the 
greatest care. The heat generated in its earlier stages 
having now greatly evaporated, both the public and the 
disputants are in a better position to estimate the nature 
and importance of the questions at issue. Indeed, the 
whole subject, in its successive developments and inci- 
dents, may be regarded as a valuable object-lesson in the 
study of comparative archeology. This is the raison 
d'etre of recalling some of the phases of the discussion and 
bringing them together in this volume — a work which 
could not have been undertaken until some authoritative 
details of the excavations were available. I shall there- 
fore, in the first place, give a brief description of the 
results of the excavations conducted at the hill-fort of 
Dunbuie and the so-called crannogs of Dumbuck and 
Langbank, independent of the controversial elements, 
reserving these for a special chapter. 

I. THE HILL-FORT OF DUNBUIE AND ITS REMARKABLE 

REMAINS 

The late Mr. Adam Millar, f.s.a. scot., has recorded 
the result of the excavations conducted on the site of the 
hill-fort of Dunbuie, situated about a mile and a half to 
the east of Dumbarton Castle, and three miles to the 
west of the Roman wall, in an interesting paper to the 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.^ There is no 
peculiarity about the position or structure of this fort 
which differentiates it from many other forts in North 
Britain. Before excavation there were few indications 

^ See Proc. S. A. Scot, vol. xxx. pp. 291-308. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 131 

that structural remains lay beneath the debris, but when 
this was accomplished there were exposed to view the 
foundations of a circular wall, 13J feet thick, enclosing 
a space 30 to 32 feet in diameter. Through this wall 
there was one entrance passage on a level with its base, 
3 feet 2 inches in width, protected by two guard 
chambers, one on each side, analogous to those so 
frequently met with in the Brochs, The height of the 
remaining part of the wall varied from 18 inches to 
3 feet 6 inches. The interior contained no dividing walls 
nor any indications of secondary occupation. 

"The fort," writes Mr. Millar, "has been examined 
very thoroughly by picking out the stones in the interior 
one by one, and riddling the fine soil and small stones. 
The same treatment has been applied to the refuse heap 
which was found on the outside, and the result of the 
search is a very remarkable collection of weapons, imple- 
ments, ornaments, and figured stones," There is no de- 
scription of the precise position of any of these relics in 
the ruins, with the exception of two upper stones of 
querns and a limpet shell having on its inner surface the 
representation of a human face, which are stated to have 
been found in the interior of the fort. No objects of 
metal or fragments of pottery were discovered in course 
of the excavations, and of bone there were only two 
small pointed objects and an awl having a perforation at 
one end. The majority of the following worked objects 
of stone, bone, and shell are so remarkable and archaic 
in character that their presence in a fort, which cannot be 
placed earlier than the Broch period, and probably long 
after the departure of the Romans from North Britain, 
has led some archaeologists to question their genuineness 
as relics of any phase of Scottish civilisation. 

Objects of Stone. — Nine spear-heads (Plate XIII.), like 
arrow-points, of slate, six of which have linear patterns 



132 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

scratched on them. Some are perforated with round 
holes, and all were made by grinding and polishing. 
One object of slate, shaped like a knife, was made by 
chipping. "This knife," says Mr. Millar, "has a fea- 
ture common to all these slate weapons — they seem to 
have been saturated with oil or fat, as water does not 
adhere to them, but runs off as from a greasy surface." 
Another highly ornamental piece of cannel coal is in the 
form of a short spear-head with a thickish stem (Plate 
XIIL, No. 6). The stem is adorned with a series of 
hollows and ridges running across it ; one surface has 
a diamond-shaped pattern, and the other radiating lines 
running from the stem to the margin. Another group 
of these remarkable objects shows markings of the cup- 
and-ring order, circles, linear incisions, and perforations 
(Plate XVI.). Some of these ornamentations are deeply 
cut on the naturally rough surfaces of flat pieces of sand- 
stone, while others are on smooth stones artificially pre- 
pared for the purpose. A small piece of flint was sup- 
posed to have been inserted into a partially burnt handle. 
There are several examples of hammer-stones of the 
ordinary crannog type, rubbing-stones, whetstones, as 
well as a large number of water-worn stones which might 
have been used as hand-missiles or sling-stones. These 
latter were not native to the hill, and must have been 
transported from burns in the neighbourhood. There 
are also two upper quern stones. 

Miscellaneous Objects. — ^A number of splintered pieces 
of bone, without showing any other evidence of work- 
manship, have linear incisions, like those on some of the 
stones, which suggest some kind of cryptic writing like 
ogams. There are also a few water-worn shells, like 
those seen on a sandy beach, having round holes bored 
through them and sharply-cut scratches on their pearly 
inner surface. But on the whole the edible molluscs are 



BRITISH FORGERIES " 133 

but feebly represented, as only five oyster, one cockle, 
three limpet, and two mussel shells were found, nearly 
all of which bore marks of some kind of ornamentation. 
But perhaps the most grotesque object in the whole 
collection is the limpet shell (Fig. 54) with a human face 
sculptured on its inner surface. 

"The eyes," writes Mr. Millar, "are represented by two 
holes, the nose by sharply cut lines, and the mouth by a well- 
drawn waved line, the curves which we call Cupid's bow being' 
faithfully followed. There is nothing" at all of an archaic 
character, however, in this example of shell-carving. We 
found it in the interior of the fort ; it was one of the early finds 
— nothing like it has been found since ; at the same time we 
have no reason for assuming that this shell was placed in the 
fort on purpose that we might find it. The fact that it was 
taken out of the fort is all that we say about it." 

Mr. Millar's opinion of these novel handicraft remains 
was that they were the products of a pre-Celtic civilisa- 
tion. "The articles found," he writes, "are strongly 
indicative of a much earlier period than post-Roman ; 
they point to an occupation of a tribe in their Stone 
Age." 

II. THE DUMBUCK " CRANNOG " 

The so-called Dumbuck " crannog," that being the 
most convenient name under which to describe the 
submarine wooden structures lately discovered by Mr. 
W. A. Donnelly in the estuary of the Clyde, lies about 
a mile to the east of the rock of Dumbarton, and about 
250 yards within high-water mark. At every tide its site 
is covered with water to a depth of three to eight feet, 
but at low tide it is left high and dry for a few hours, so 
that it was only during these tidal intervals that the 
excavations could be conducted. 

On the occasion of my first visit to Dumbuck, before 
excavations were begun, Mr. Donnelly and I counted 



134 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

twenty-seven piles of oak, some 5 or 8 inches in diameter, 
cropping up for a few inches through the mud, in the 
form of a circle 56 feet in diameter. The area thus 
enclosed was occupied with the trunks of small trees 
laid horizontally close to each other and directed towards 
the centre, and so superficial that portions of them were 
exposed above the surrounding mud, but all hollows and 
interstices were levelled up with sand or mud. The 
tops of the piles which projected above the surface of 
the log-pavement were considerably worn by the con- 
tinuous action of the muddy waters during the ebb and 
flow of the tides, a fact which suggested the following 
remarkable hypothesis: "Their tops are shaped in an 
oval, conical form, meant to make a joint in a socket 
to erect the superstructure on." These words are quoted 
from a " Report of a Conjoint Visit of the Geological 
and Philosophical Societies to the Dumbuck Crannog, 
8th April, 1899." ^ 

The result of the excavations, so far as I can gather 
from observations made during my second visit to the 
" crannog," and the descriptions and plans published by 
various societies, may be briefly stated as follows (see 
plan, page 143). 

The log-pavement within the circle of piles was the 
upper of three similar layers of timbers placed one above 
the other, the middle layer having its beams lying 
transversely to that immediately above and below it. 
One of the piles (about 4 feet long), when freshly drawn 
up, clearly showed that it had been pointed by a sharp 
metal implement, the cutting marks being like those 
produced by an ordinary axe. The central portion 
(about 6 feet in diameter) had no woodwork, and the 
circular cavity thus formed, when cleared of fallen stones, 

^ See Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, xxx. 268, and 
Fig. 4. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 135 

showed indications of having been walled with stones 
and clay. Surrounding this walled cavity — the so-called 
" well " of the explorers — there was a kind of coping, in 
the form of five or six "raised mounds," arranged 
" rosette fashion," in regard to which Mr. Donnelly thus 
writes : — 

" One feature that strikes me very much in the configuration 
of the structure in the centre is those places marked X, Fig, 
20, around which I have discovered the presence of soft wood 
piles 5 inches in diameter driven into the ground, and bounding 
the raised stone arrangement ; the stones in these rude circular 
pavements or cairns are laid slightly slanting inwards.^ 

From this description, and especially the "slanting 
inwards" of these "circular pavements" or "cairns," 
it would appear that they formed the bases for wooden 
stays to support a great central pole, a suggestion which, 
on different grounds, has already been made by Dr. 
David Murray. In pointing out that a corporation cairn 
once stood close to the site of the Dumbuck " crannog," 
if not actually on it, Dr. Murray writes : — 

" Beacons have often a pole in the middle rising above the 
stonework and surmounted by a cross. Such a pole carried 
down to the bottom would probably be sunk in the clay, which 
would produce a hole or well-like cavity similar to that in the 
formation of the Dumbuck structure."^ 

The surrounding piles were also attached to the hori- 
zontal logs by various ingenious contrivances, such as a 
fork, a natural bend, an artificial check, or a mortised 
hole ; and some of the beams were pinned together by 
tree-nails, the perforations of which were unmistakable. 
This binding together of the wooden structures is a well- 
known feature in crannogs, as was demonstrated by my 
investigations at Lochlee and elsewhere. ^ It would be 

^ Journal of the British ArchcBological Association, December, 189S. 
" Glasgoiv Herald, March 22nd, 1899. 
•* Prehistoric Scotland, p. 431. 



136 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

still more necessary in a substratum of timbers that was 
intended (as will be afterwards explained) to bear the 
weight of a superincumbent cairn. Underneath the 
layers of horizontal woodwork some portions of heather, 
bracken, and brushwood were detected, and below this 
came a succession of thin beds of mud, loam, sand, gravel, 
and finally the blue clay which forms the solum of the 
river valley.^ The piles penetrated this latter, but not 
deeply, owing to its consistency ; and so the blue clay 
formed an excellent foundation for a structure whose main 
object was resistance to superincumbent pressure. 

Outside the circle of piles there was, at a distance of 
12 to 14 feet, another wooden structure in the shape of a 
broad ring of horizontal beams and piles which sur- 
rounded the central area. The breadth of this outer ring 
was 7 feet, and it consisted of some nine rows of beams 
running circumferentially. Beyond this lay scattered 
about some rough cobble stones, as if they had fallen 
down from a stone structure which had been raised over 
the woodwork. The space intervening between these 
wooden structures was filled up in its eastern third with a 
refuse heap, consisting of broken and partially burnt 
bones of various animals, the shells of edible molluscs, 
and a quantity of ashes and charcoal, evidently the 
debris of human occupancy. On the north, or landward 
side, the outer and inner basements of woodwork appeared 
to coalesce for 5 or 6 yards, leaving an open space having 
stones embedded in the mud and decayed wood, a con- 
dition of things which suggested a rude causeway. 
When Mr. Donnelly drew my attention to this, I 
demurred to its being so characterised owing to its 
indefiniteness. At the outer limit of this so-called 
causeway, and about 25 feet north-east of the circle 
of piles, a canoe was discovered lying in a kind of dock 

^ See Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, xxx. Fig, 4, 



BRITISH FORGERIES 137 

rudely constructed of side stones and wooden piling. 
The canoe measures 35^ feet long, 4 feet broad, and 
li foot deep. It has a square stern with a movable 
board, two grasping holes near the stem, and three round 
perforations (2 inches in diameter) in its bottom. On the 
north-west border of the log-pavement a massive ladder 
of oak was found, one end resting on the margin of the 
log pavement and the other projecting obliquely into the 
timberless zone between the former and the outer wood- 
work. It is thus described in the Proceedings of the 
Glasg07v Philosophical Society : — ^ 

" Made of a slab of oak which has been split from the 
tree by wedges (on one side little has been done to dress the 
work), it is 15 feet 3 inches long-, 2 feet broad, and 3I inches 
thick. Six holes are cut for steps, 12 inches by 10 inches ; 
the bottom of each is bevelled to an ang-le of 60 degrees to 
make the footing level when the ladder is in position. On one 
side those holes show signs of wear by long use." 

An under quern stone, 19 inches in diameter, was found 
about half-way between the canoe and the margin of the 
circle of piles, and immediately to the east of the so- 
called causeway already described. 

I carefully examined the surface of the log-pavement 
with the view of finding evidence as to the possibility of 
its having been at any time the habitable area of this 
strange dwelling-place ; but the result was absolutely 
negative, as not a single particle of bone or ash was dis- 
covered in any of its chinks. This fact, together with 
the impossibility of living on a surface that is submerged 
every twelve hours, and the improbability of any land 
subsidence having taken place since prehistoric times, or 
any adequate depression from the shrinkage of the 
understructures themselves, compels me to summarily 
reject the theory that the Dumbuck structure in its present 

^ Vol. XXX. 270. 



138 ARCHAEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

form was an ordinary crannog. The most probable 
hypothesis, and that which supplies a reasonable explana- 
tion of all the facts, is that the woodwork was the founda- 
tion of a superstructure of stones, built sufficiently high to 
be above the action of the tides and waves, over which 
there had been some kind of dwelling-place. The unique 
arrangement of the wooden substructures suggests that 
the central building was in the form of a round tower, 
with very thick walls, like the brochs and other forts of 
North Britain. The central space was probably occupied 
with a pole, firmly fixed at its base in the 'Svell," and 
kept in position by suitable stays, resting partly on the 
stone "cairns" already described, partly in wooden 
sockets fixed into the log-pavement, and partly on the 
inner wall of the tower. This suggestion seems to me 
to be greatly strengthened by the following description of 
some holed tree-roots in Mr. Bruce's paper to the Scottish 
Antiquaries : — ^ 

"Midway between the centre and the outside piles of the 
structure what looked at first to be tree-roots or snags were 
noticed partly imbedded in the sand. On being- washed of the 
adhering- soil, holes of 12 inches wide by 25 inches deep were 
found cut in them at an angle, to all appearance for the insertion 
of struts for the support of an upper structure. On the 
outside, 14 inches down on either side, holes of 2 inches 
diameter were found intersecting the central hole, apparently 
for the insertion of a wooden key or trenail to retain the 
struts. These were found at intervals, and were held in 
position by stones and smaller jammers." 

The outer woodwork formed the foundation of another 
stone structure, of a horseshoe shape, having the open 
side to the north or landside of the tower, which doubt- 
less was intended as a breakwater. By means of the 
ladder placed slantingly against the wall of the central 

^ Vol. xxxiv. p. 438. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 139 

stone building access could be got to the top in all states 
of the tides. 

The people who occupied this watch-tower ground their 
own corn, and fared abundantly on beef, mutton, pork, 
venison, and shell-fish. The food refuse and other debris 
were thrown into the space between the central structure 
and the breakwater, forming in the course of time a 
veritable kitchen-midden. 

Besides the causeway on the north side, Mr. Bruce de- 
scribes "a belt of stones, forming a pavement about six 
feet wide and just awash with the mud," extending west- 
wards about twenty yards from the central cavity, till it 
intersected the breakwater.^ These so-called pavements 
and causeways were probably formed during the con- 
struction of the tower with its central pole, or perhaps at 
the time of its demolition, as it would be manifestly in- 
convenient to transport stones to or from such a place, 
in the midst of so much slush, without first making some 
kind of firm pathway. Their present superficial position 
alone demonstrates the absurdity of assigning the Dum- 
buck structures to Neolithic times, as if the only change 
effected in the bed of the Clyde since then would be the 
deposition of a few inches of mud. At a little distance 
to the west of these wooden structures there is the ter- 
minal end of a modern ditch ("the burn " of Mr. Alston), 
extending towards the shore, and having on its eastern 
bank a row of stepping-stones ; a fact which, in my 
opinion, partly accounts for the demolition of the stone- 
work which formerly stood over them. So far, the facts 
disclosed by the excavations of the structures at Dum- 
buck, though highly interesting as evidence of the hand 
of man in the early navigation of the Clyde basin, 

^ Mr. Alston describes this causeway, and shows it on the plan as 
"leading- from the 'central well' to the burn about 120 feet to west of 
centre of crannog." 



HO ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

present nothing very remarkable or improbable. It is 
when we come to examine the strange relics which the 
occupants of this habitation have left behind them that 
the real difficulties begin. From the recent publication of 
Mr. John Bruce's report on the subject/ I see that the 
author has profited from the critical opinions of his 
opponents by adopting the following classification of the 
relics :- " (i) Objects of types which are familiarly known 
to archaeological science from their frequent occurrence 
in other sites of early occupation ; and (2) objects of 
types which are not known to have been discovered else- 
where, many of which, however, bear a close resem- 
blance in character to some of the objects found in the 
fort of Dunbuie." 

In the first category he includes a number of pointed 
objects of bone, implements or worked portions of deer 
horn, three small flakes or scrapers of flint, an oval 
water-worn pebble of quartzite, with a hollow streak 
along its major axis ("tracked stone") (Fig. 34), several 
hammer-stones, whetstones, sinkstones, and a rubbing- 
stone showing on its edge some markings not unlike 
ogams, the understone of a rudely-constructed quern mill 
already referred to. 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiv\ pp. 437-62. 

" As soon as these novel objects (included in Mr. Bruce's second cate- 
g'or}'-) came under my observation I pointed out their striking- similarity in 
form, style, and ornamentation to those previously found in the fort of Dun- 
buie {GlasgOTii Herald, Jan. 7th, iSgg, and Prehistoric Scotland, p. 440). 
Also in a more recent criticism denying their claim to be regfarded as relics 
of the Stone Age (The Reliquary and Illustrated Archceologist, vol. vii. 
p. 107), I thus expressed myself: " The relics from both these stations can 
be readily divided into two groups, each group presenting totally different 
characteristics. Their most astounding feature is that, while one group in 
each station is quite in harmony with the antiquities generally found in 
analogous situations throughout the Scottish archaeological area, the other 
two groups have such a family likeness that any tyro would at once classify 
them as products of the same civilisation." It is thus clear that Mr. Bruce 
and mj'self are in entire agreement as to the abnormality of a particular 
group of objects from both stations. 



BRITISH FORGERIES 141 

The second category contains a number of strange 
objects like spear-heads or daggers, showing more or 
less workmanship, and variously ornamented. One great 
spear-head (Plate XIII., No. 12), like an arrow-point, is 
II inches long and 4! inches wide at the barbs. The 
stem is perforated with two holes, in one of which there 
was a portion of an oak pin. It has a flat body and 
rounded edges, and is carefully finished by rubbing and 
grinding. One surface is ornamented with three cup- 
marks from which lines radiate like stars or suns, and 
the other has only small cups and a few transverse lines. 
There are some shaped stones, sometimes perforated for 
suspension, made of the same material ; while another 
group of similar objects is made of cannel coal. All 
these are highly ornamented by a fantastic combination 
of circles, dots, lines, cup-and-rings with or without 
gutters, and perforations. A small pebble (Plate XV., 
No 10) shows, on one side, a boat with three men ply- 
ing their oars, and on the other an incised outline of 
a left hand having a small cup-and-ring in the palm. 
The most sensational objects in the collection are, how- 
ever, four rude figures, cut out of shale (Figs. 50-53), 
representing portions of the human face and person. 
One, evidently a female, we are informed was found at 
the bottom of the kitchen-midden, a strange resting-place 
for a goddess ; the other three are grotesque efforts to 
represent a human face. There are also several oyster- 
shells, ornamented like some of the shale ornaments, and 
very similar to the oyster-shell ornaments of Dunbuie. 
A splinter of a hard stone is inserted into the tine of a 
deer-horn as a handle (Plate XIII., No. 5); and another 
small blunt implement (No. i) has a bone handle. A 
few larger stones with cup-marks and some portions of 
partially worked pieces of shale complete the art gallery 
of Dumbuck. 



142 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Explanation of the Plan 
This plan of the so-called " Dumbuck Crannog " is 
reduced from a large plan sent to the Society of Anti- 
quaries of Scotland along with the following explanations. 
The documents are dated Glasgow, August 24th, 1901, 
and signed W. M. Alston. 

"The measurements taken for the construction of this plan 
show that the crannog" consists of a central well or cavity (A), 
the sides being" built of boulders lined with hazel wattle and 
blue clay. From this to a circle (E, E), about 50 feet in 
diameter, of oak piles originally twenty-seven in number, some 
of which are now removed, there is a floor composed of three 
layers of logs, the top and bottom layers radiating from central 
well to the circle of piles, and the mid row running circum- 
ferentiall5\ Round the well (A) there is a rosette-shaped series 
of slightly raised stone mounds. Outside the above floored 
space there is a ring fully 20 feet wide, the inner 7 feet being of 
logs laid circumferentially (C, C), and secured at intervals by 
soft wood piles, and the remaining 13 feet in width (P, P) being 
of rough cobble-stones. The intervening space between this 
ring and the floored area (B, B) had in it remains of various 
kinds, such as shells, shale, and stone implements. At the 
north-east side of the structure there is a dock about 40 feet 
long and 6 feet wide, in which was found a canoe, now removed 
(H). A timber-floored jetty (N) leads to this dock from the 
circular area in centre. Leading from the central well to the 
burn, about 120 feet to west of centre of crannog, there is a 
rough causeway (M, M) composed of cobble-stones. On the 
circular-floored area there are several large timber logs (F) 
having holes in them, showing signs of burning, and evidently 
for the purpose of supporting stags. 

" During the measurements for this plan special excavations 
and cuttings were made at certain places, the remainder of 
these parts covered by sand being filled in from general 
observations verified by probing." 

In addition to these details I have to note that D marks 
the site of the ladder and G that of the quern. 




■Q^ 'J n 'J '' 



«Q 



BRITISH FORGERIES 145 

III. THE LANGBANK " CRANNOG " 

The submarine wooden structure at Langbank, dis- 
covered by Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. scot., in the autumn 
of 1901, and then partially explored,^ has been sub- 
jected to further excavation in the following year, 
under the immediate superintendence of the discoverer, 
assisted by a committee of the Glasgow Arch^ological 
Society. The site lies within the tidal area on 
the south shore of the Clyde Estuary, near West 
Ferry Inn, and directly opposite to Dumbarton Castle. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Bruce, and of Dr. Bryce, of 
Glasgow, a member of the committee, I was afforded an 
opportunity of visiting the locality (September 29th, 1902) 
while the excavations were in progress, and, under their 
guidance, inspected the relics, the site of the refuse-heap 
from which most of the bones were extracted, and the 
structure and disposition of the woodwork. While 
walking over the site, the workmen made tentative 
diggings here and there, so as to clear up whatever 
doubtful points came under discussion. Hence I am 
enabled to lay before readers a trustworthy sketch of 
these interesting remains independently of the report of 
the committee, which for some unaccountable reason is 
still unpublished. 

The main structure consists of a series of short piles, 
4 to 5 feet in length, arranged in a circular form so as to 
enclose an area of about 60 feet in diameter. 

The tops of these piles were just seen protruding a few 
inches through the gravel of the tidal shore, and like 
those of Dumbuck, were considerably worn by the to-and- 
fro action of the tides into round handle-like projections. 
Some were made of oak, and others of softer wood. Two 
on being pulled up clearly showed that their points had 

^ AthencEum, October 19th. 



146 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

been fashioned by sharp metal tools, like the pile from 
Dumbuck, with regard to which there has been so much 
senseless disputation. A row of horizontal logs, partly- 
kept in position on the outside by upright piles, ran along 
the circumference of the area ; but the interior of the 
circle was mostly occupied with brushwood, now greatly 
decayed and more or less buried in gravel and mud. 
According to a statement by one of the workmen the 
greatest depth at which the decayed brushwood was found 
was eighteen inches. The results of digging a few spo- 
radic holes, in our presence, satisfied us that the above 
estimate was correct. There was no evidence of the exist- 
ence of a central hole like the "well " of the Dumbuck 
investigators. 

On the east side of the circle, and separated from it by 
only a few paces, there appeared another arrangement of 
woodwork, in the form of a roughly rectangular area 
occupied by closely lying beams, reminding one of the 
log-pavement of Dumbuck. At its north-east corner we 
observed the ends of two horizontal beams, which met at 
an angle, and were fastened to the ground by three 
wooden pegs still in situ. It was difficult to trace the 
exact length of these pegs, as they could only be extracted 
in small fragments owing to the pulpy condition of the 
wood. Two were found to have penetrated the gravel 
over a foot beneath the beams. One which had evidently 
met with an unyielding obstruction showed, instead of 
a point, a large cauliflower excresence, proving con- 
clusively that it had been driven into the gravel with 
great force. At first my idea was that this outer wood- 
work corresponded with the outer ring at Dumbuck, but 
Mr. Bruce assured me that he had dug several trenches 
all round without finding any trace of wood. The 
refuse heap lay in the space between the main circle 
and this annexe, but bones of animals were occasion- 



BRITISH FORGERIES 147 

ally turned up in the debris in other parts outside the 
circle. 

Although differing in some minor details, the general 
resemblance of the structures at Langbank and Dumbuck 
is unmistakable. Nor can there be much doubt that 
both served the same purpose, viz. as foundations for 
some kind of stone superstructures, on the top of which 
a few people had their abode. The rectangular annexe at 
the former might have been the foundation of a pier, 
tower, or fortlet, as an adjunct to the circular building. 
The less elaboration of the woodwork at Langbank than 
of that at Dumbuck is satisfactorily accounted for by the 
firmer consistency of the bed of the estuary at the former 
site, as well as by its less submerged condition at high 
tide and its greater proximity to the land. The smallness 
of the habitable area on both puts them out of the cate- 
gory of military forts ; but the beacon and fish-bothy 
theories are plausible. 

The few relics found in course of the excavations are 
interesting as giving perhaps a more understandable idea 
of the period of occupancy to the ordinary antiquarian 
mind than those of Dumbuck ; but their chronological 
horizon seems to me to be precisely the same, viz. a date 
well on in the early Iron Age, posterior to the Roman 
occupation of that part of Britain. 

They comprise the following objects (Plate XII.) : — 

(i) A small single-edged toilet-comb, made of a flat 
piece of bone, rounded above, and having a small hole 
in the middle of its upper margin. The most interesting 
feature of this relic is a "Late Celtic" design on one of 
its surfaces, formed of circles and intersecting segments 
of circles. The lines are sharply incised and executed 
with so much precision that they must have been made 
with compasses. 

(2) A small bronze or brass penannular brooch, about 



148 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

an inch in diameter, with a movable pin a little larger 
than the diameter of the brooch. The ends of the pen- 
annular ring show two slight circular ridges, just sufficient 
to remind one of the ornamental expansions peculiar to 
the large Celtic pennanular brooches of early Christian 
times. 

(3) A few cut fragments of deer-horn, pointed bones, 
stone polishers and hammer-stones of the usual types so 
commonly found on crannogs, brochs, and other early 
inhabited sites of Scotland. 

(4) Two remarkable shale objects, both perforated, 
and not unlike those of Dumbuck and Dunbuie ; one, is 
fashioned into a grotesque human face ; the other looks 
like a pendant plaque ornamented with two concentric 
but incompleted circles round the perforation, from 
which also runs a stem line with little nicks on one 
side suggestive of ogams. There are also on the same 
surface two incised figures, probably intended to repre- 
sent fragments of deer-horn. 

The conjecture that the Dumbuck structure had some- 
thing to do with the early navigation of the Clyde is 
rather strengthened by the Langbank discovery ; and 
should this surmise be correct the probability is that 
other analogous sites exist in the Clyde basin. 



PLATE XII 



C' < 



V ,"'/>•-> 



I 



B 




TWO SHALE OBJECTS, A BONE COMB AND A SI\IALL 

PENANNULAR FIBULA OF BRONZE OR BRASS 

FOUND AT LANGBANK 

ALL J- ACTUAL SIZE 
(Frovi a draiuiii^i^ by IV. A. Do)inelly} 



CHAPTER V 
THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 

IF it could be supposed possible to characterise a series 
of incidents arising out of the ordinary " dry-as- 
dust " materials of archaeology as a "tangled skein," 
the story of the Clyde controversy would be the first 
to justify the supposition. The question raised by the 
grotesque "idols" and the other novel objects which 
form the subject-matter of this controversy is the most 
important that has ever cropped up on the field of 
Scottish archaeology, as it involves the consideration of 
a new civilisation within proto-historic times of which 
hitherto both historians and archaeologists were equally 
ignorant. Although it is about eight years since it first 
presented itself in the form of a small cloud on the 
archaeological horizon, its real significance does not yet 
appear to be fully understood, for if the materials in 
question be accepted as genuine the whole fabric of 
Scottish archaeology goes into the melting-pot. Dating 
from 1896, with the investigation of the hill-fort of 
Dunbuie, the controversy has trailed along, in a desultory 
manner, through a voluminous newspaper correspon- 
dence, articles in literary and quasi-scientific journals, 
and even as communications to antiquarian societies, till, 
at the present time, one hardly knows what it is all about. 
In its progress it has been fanned by the discovery of 
fresh materials at Dumbuck (i8g8), and more recently at 
Langbank (1901 and 1902). Although the three stations 

149 



ISO ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

are more or less different in structure, the controversial 
element is the same in all, viz. a suspicion that some 
strange-looking objects, reported to have been found in 
their debris, are not genuine relics of the people who 
constructed and inhabited them. In 1899,^ and again in 
1901,2 I gave a short description of the *' finds" at Dum- 
buck and Dunbuie, in which, from the facts then dis- 
closed, I could form no other opinion than that most 
of the so-called relics were spurious. But, since the 
discoveries at Langbank have complicated the field of 
discussion, no connected account of the issues involved 
has hitherto been published. It seems, therefore, that 
the present is a suitable opportunity for laying a succinct 
account of the whole matter before arch^ologists, so as 
to enable them to form an impartial judgment on the 
arguments pro et con. 

Of the excavations and discoveries on the hill-fort of 
Dunbuie I knew at the time very little, except what could 
be gathered from paragraphs in the local press regarding 
the novelty of some of the relics. Being abroad when 
Mr. Millar's paper was read at the Society of Antiquaries 
of Scotland (April 13th, 1896), it was not till the relics 
became the property of the nation, and were located in 
the National Museum, that I had an opportunity of 
examining them. It is only fair to say that I did not 
then conceal from my secretarial colleagues my doubts as 
to the authenticity of some of them. 

My first visit to Dumbuck was made in consequence 
of a letter which Dr. Joseph Anderson, Curator of the 
National Museum, and Assistant-Secretary of the Society 
of Antiquaries of Scotland, had received from Mr. W. A. 
Donnelly, stating that he had discovered a curious wooden 
structure in the basin of the Clyde, which, he suggested, 

^ Prehistoric Scotland, pp. 379, 437. 

'^ Proc. Society of Antiquaries of London, 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 151 

might be a crannog. Dr. Anderson, in his reply, said 
that he would submit the matter to me (being then one of 
the secretaries of the Society) as one specially interested 
in such antiquities. This visit was made on August i6th, 
1898, and its avowed object was to give the discoverer 
the benefit of my experience in such investigations. The 
existence of a well-defined platform of more or less pre- 
pared logs and saplings within a circle of oak piles, in 
such a locality, was so unusual that I had no hesitation 
in recommending tentative excavations to be made along 
the margin of the circle, in order to ascertain with greater 
precision the disposition of the woodwork, and more 
especially to get some practical data for carrying out 
further excavations. 

My second visit was some two months later (October 
12th), while the excavations were in progress. On that 
occasion I stated openly in presence of all the investiga- 
tors that, in my opinion, some of the objects then shown 
to me as relics of the occupiers of the supposed crannog 
were not genuine. Moreover, I communicated that 
opinion in writing, on the following day, in a letter 
hurriedly written in reply to one from the late Mr. Adam 
Millar, f.s.a. scot, (afterwards published by Mr. Millar 
in the Glasgow Herald, January i6th, 1899). The letter 
is as follows : — 

" Dear Mr. Millar, " ^'^°^'' '3^/^, 1898. 

"Thanks for your letter. I returned home deeply im- 
pressed with the importance of your Clyde crannog and the 
novel character of the structures revealed. Nothing- could be 
more satisfactory than the care bestowed on the investigations 
by Mr. Donnelly, everything being carried out with skill and 
care ; and I hope his services will be ultimately rewarded by 
something more substantial than mere archaeological fame, I 
lay much value on the bones recovered, and I trust you will lose 
no time in putting them into the hands of Professor Cleland, of 
Glasgow University. 



152 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

" At the same time I did not think it right to reserve to myself 
the impression that some of the objects shown to me — the great 
spear-head, the image and pendant, and perhaps one or two 
more of the objects — were products of the nineteenth century. 
My present opinion is that there is some mystification going on 
which it would be in the interests of archaeology, as well as of 
those conducting the investigations, to clear up. What the 
object may be, whether as a joke, or for the satisfaction of 
bewildering so-called experts, I know not. 

"The matter lies in the hands of Mr. Bruce and Mr. Donnelly 
for further elucidation, and all I have to say is, that if these 
objects are brought forward before the archaeological world as 
relics from the crannog, you will be subjected to as much 
criticism as M, de Rougemont. 

"If you are all satisfied as to their genuineness, of course I have 
nothing more to say in the meantime. Mr. Donnelly is quite 
right in keeping everything for examination, but I could not 
pretend to be a friend of his without giving him the benefit of 
my impression. When I return I will be happy to join with 
you in consultation over the whole matter before you give 
further publicity to some of the finds. The crannog is sufficiently 
important without such extras." 

Subsequently I had some further correspondence with 
the investigators in the same strain, my last letter being 
one to Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. scot, (about the i6th 
November, 1898), urging him to submit the suspected 
objects to a committee of experts. But all my efforts in 
this direction were fruitless. 

Meantime paragraphs and short articles, characterising 
the Dumbuck discovery as remains of a Neolithic habita- 
tion, appeared from time to time, not only in the local 
press, but in several scientific and other journals, such as 
the Athenceutn, Antiquary^ Natural Science^ Illustrated 
London News, Scots Pictorial, etc. 

It was not, however, till nearly two months after the 
investigators of the Dumbuck structure had rejected my 
recommendations to refer the doubtful objects to a com- 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 153 

mittee of experts, and long- after I failed to induce the 
executive committee of the Society of Antiquaries to sit 
in judgment over them, that I determined to take indepen- 
dent action in the matter. The result of this action was 
the following communication to the Glasg07v Herald 
(January 7th, 1899). 

" RECENT ARCH^OLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN 
THE CLYDE VALLEY. 

" My attention has been directed to an article on the marine 
structure recently discovered in the estuary of the Clyde, which 
appeared in the November issue of Natural Science, and in 
which my name is introduced as one who, after making- a 
thorough investig"ation of the site, ' declared it was the most 
curious, puzzling, and interesting find of the kind he had met 
with in all his long experience, and, so far as he knew, unique.' 
The writer g-oes on to describe the * veritable crannog ' as a 
' pile-structure,' and assigns it to the Neolithic period on the 
ground ' that none but implements of flint and bone have been 
discovered.' 

" It is somewhat singular that casual expressions which may 
have fallen from me with regard to the novelty and peculiarity 
of that structure should have been collected and published as a 
quotation, while not a syllable of remarks made at the same 
time on another phase of the investigation, and which were any- 
thing but complimentary, should have been altogether omitted. 
From the general purport of that article, and of numerous other 
articles and paragraphs which have recently appeared in current 
literature, the public may be apt to suppose that the opinions 
thus promulgated as to the age, structure, and marvels of the 
Dumbuck crannog have been endorsed by me. But this is not 
so, as I regard it neither as a pile-structure nor as a monument 
of Neolithic times. Hitherto I have taken no notice of such 
misleading statements, although it is well known that my 
opinions were often grossly misrepresented. Now that my con- 
nection with these researches, for reasons which will appear in 
the sequel, has come to an end, I deem it right, partly in the 
interests of Scottish archaeology, and partly to vindicate my 



154 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

own position in the matter, to make a short statement of some 
general facts bearing" on the results of this investigation for the 
enlightenment of all whom it concerns. I have no intention of 
trespassing on the undoubted rights and privileges of those who 
have undertaken, at much labour and expense, this investiga- 
tion, by entering on a detailed description of the archaeological 
phenomena disclosed by the excavations. I may, however, be 
permitted to say that, to my mind, the best explanation of the 
woodwork is that it formed the foundation of a stone building, 
or cairn, of sufficient height to place its surface beyond the reach 
of the waves at the highest tides. Here the occupants had some 
kind of dwelling from which the kitchen debris and food-refuse 
were thrown over the margin. The stout oak ladder would 
serve very well for mounting and dismounting in all states of 
the tide. The canoe does not necessarily carry us back to pre- 
historic times, as canoes are amongst the most common relics 
of the ordinary Scottish and Irish crannogs, so that the occu- 
pancy of the Dumbuck crannog may be ultimately placed as late 
as mediaeval times. It is probable that when it was built the 
locality would be under water even at low tide. The gradual 
accumulation of mud along the shore is sufficient to account for 
its present stranded position at low water. Since the wooden 
foundation was laid the mud has increased around it to a depth 
at least equal to the thickness of the woodwork, the surface 
of both {i.e. woodwork and mud) being now on the same 
level. 

" When I first visited the so-called crannog, by arrangement 
with Mr, Donnelly, shortly after its discovery, I had no hesita- 
tion in recommending its exploration on the ground of the rarity 
of such structures in marine estuaries. Mr. Donnelly was very 
anxious that I should there and then pronounce it a real cran- 
nog ; but I pointed out that we had very little experience of 
marine crannogs in Scotland, that crannogs were habitations in 
fresh-water lakes or bogs, and that, although the wooden 
structures were disposed like those of the ordinary crannogs, we 
had as yet no evidence that they formed a place of habitation at 
all. The only analogous structure hitherto investigated was a 
cairn or mound of wood and stones near the island of Eriska, 
of which, however, though present at its excavation, I could 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 155 

not give any rational explanation.^ On my return home I sent 
Mr. Donnelly some literature on crannogs, and took the oppor- 
tunity by letter of cautioning him against saying much about his 
discovery until its nature would be more clearly revealed by 
practical research. I was then leaving home to fulfil an engage- 
ment in England, and on my return, some three weeks later, 
the Dumbuck crannog was already famous. Descriptions and 
illustrations of the woodwork, the canoe, and a remarkable 
series of objects, were published in numerous journals. For 
some weeks I heard nothing more on the subject beyond 
second-hand rumours of extraordinary discoveries, till Mr. John 
Honeyman intimated a desire to have a consultation with Dr. 
Joseph Anderson and myself regarding the possibility of con- 
structing a model of the Dumbuck crannog, for the purpose of 
being shown at the forthcoming exhibition at Glasgow. He 
was rather astonished to find that we had no information on 
the subject. Mr. Honeyman very kindly agreed to make 
arrangements for another visit to Dumbuck, in conjunction with 
some members of the Glasgow Archaeological Society. Accord- 
ingly, a few days later I had the pleasure of joining a party of 
gentlemen who, like myself, were anxious to see the famous 
crannog ; and among the party were Mr. Adam Millar, f.s.a. 
SCOT., and Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. scot., who, along with Mr. 
Donnelly, superintended the excavations. Mr. Millar had in 
his possession a case containing some of the exceptional relics 
already discovered, including a large spear-head, like a winged 
arrow -point, made of slate, a rudely formed human figure 
manufactured out of a piece of shale, and a number of other 
objects of stone or shale, perforated and ornamented with 
incised patterns, small cup marks, concentric circles, etc. The 
discussion in the railway carriage on our way to Bowling 
centred on the theory that these objects were the relics of a pre- 
Celtic civilisation. Readers may fancy the astonishment of the 
party when I unceremoniously suggested an alternative theory, 
viz. that they were products of the nineteenth-century civilisa- 
tion. 

" Mr. Donnelly was waiting for us, and after getting ourselves 
rigged out in big boots we made our way, ankle-deep in mud, 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xix. p. 92. 



156 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

to the crannog. Here we inspected the canoe, a heavy oak 
beam with four or five ladder-like steps cut out of the solid, the 
remains of a kitchen midden containing- ashes and quantities of 
broken bones, and a circular area paved with prepared timbers, 
some of which bore the marks of a metal axe. I was very 
anxious to see the rest of the relics, as I had heard of a barbed 
harpoon being among them, so Mr. Donnelly very kindly sent 
one of his men to fetch them. These I looked over carefully. 
Among the stone objects (excepting the precious objects in the 
case) I could not say with certainty that any of them had been 
fashioned by the hand of man, or showed any signs of having 
been used as implements. There were no ' flint implements ' 
of any description, and hence this ground for assigning the 
crannog to the Neolithic period has no foundation in fact. 
Some of the bones had the appearance of having been shaped 
into pointers, but being then covered with a layer of decomposed 
bone, due to maceration, all evidence of workmanship, if they 
ever had any, had disappeared. The harpoon seemed to me to 
be a portion of a partially disintegrated lower jaw retaining the 
marks of the animal's teeth on one side. Several pieces of 
stag's horn were observed to have been sawn right across. We 
all complimented the excavator on the excellent way in which 
he had so far carried out the excavations, and made various 
suggestions as to the best method of continuing the operations. 

" Before leaving I pointed out that the osseous remains were 
the most important of the finds, as it was to them we had 
especially to look for evidence of the age of the dwelling, and 
recommended that a selection of them be at once sent to a 
specialist to be reported on. As for the stone weapons and the 
other relics in the case, I ignored them altogether, stating that, 
in my opinion, they were not productions of the people who 
constructed and inhabited this strange place. 

"Next morning I received a letter from Mr. Millar {12th 
October) in which, inter alia, he informed me that ' his friend 
Donnelly was rather depressed by my suspicions as to the 
genuineness of some of the finds.' To this I replied that, while 
giving Mr. Donnelly due credit for the judicious way in which 
the excavations were conducted, I could not admit the genuine- 
ness of certain rehcs said to have been found in the excavations, 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 157 

nor of the ' idol ' picked up from the mud in the canoe. I 
expressed my conviction that there was some mystification at 
work which it was his duty to explain, and suggested that 
a committee of experts be appointed to inquire into the matter, 
etc. (see page 151). But to this appeal I received no reply. 

*' Sometime subsequent to this I incidentally met Mr. Bruce 
at the railway station of Lanark, and he there showed me two 
o}'ster-shells, perforated and ornamented, which he stated had 
recently been found at Dumbuck ; but as the train was on the 
point of leaving I had no time to discuss the matter with him. 
A few days afterwards I wrote him a letter, directing his atten- 
tion to my previous communications to Messrs. Donnelly and 
Millar, and urging him to appoint a committee of inquiry as to 
the origin of these marvellous finds and their relevancy to the 
crannog investigation. To this he replied (November i8th) : — 
' I am much obliged for your favour of the i6th, and quite 
understand your position. I had a talk yesterday when in 
Edinburgh with Dr. Anderson, and agreed to let matters re- 
main at present in statu quo.'' So ended my connection with 
the Dumbuck crannog. Since then, however, I have incidentally 
seen two or three consignments of relics purporting to have 
been found at Dumbuck, among which were two more repre- 
sentations of portions of the human form, rudely incised on 
fragments of shale, along with some perforated pebbles, orna- 
mented with meaningless designs. 

" But the archaeological interest of this discovery does not 
by any means end here. Three years ago the Helensburgh 
Naturalist and Antiquarian Society excavated the hill-fort of 
Dunbuie, also discovered by Mr. Donnelly. This fort is situated 
on a commanding height just overlooking the site of the Dum- 
buck crannog. The result of this investigation produced a pro- 
found sensation in archseological circles, as it revealed a whole 
series of relics totally different from anything previously known 
within the Scottish area, or, indeed, within any area known to 
me either in Europe or elsewhere. Mr. Adam Millar read a 
paper on these discoveries at the Society of Antiquaries of Scot- 
land, which is published in their Proceedings for 1895-6, with 
numerous illustrations of the objects. After a cleverly written 
review of the position to be assigned to the Dunbuie relics in 



158 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

the early civilisation of Scotland, Mr, Millar expresses his 
general conclusion as follows : — 

" ' But the absence of Roman influence is not so startling as 
the fact that there is nothing- in the productions of this fort to 
show the influence of Celtic civilisation — the ornamentation is 
not Celtic, but pre-Celtic. Both the Roman and the Celtic 
civilisations were foreign in their origin. The Celts in Britain 
were skilled workers in metals before Julius Cassar landed; they 
had established themselves as conquerors several centuries 
before the Roman invasion. Yet their influence, however 
dominant it was in the southern end of the island, may not at 
this time have reached the wild native tribes who lived by the 
chase in the rugged hills and closely grown woods of Dum- 
bartonshire.'^ 

'* It is only now, with the full light of these prior researches, 
that a climax is reached in the importance of the Dumbuck dis- 
coveries. On comparing them with the relics of the pre-Celtic 
inhabitants of Dunbuie, now fortunately preserved in the 
National Museum, their similarity and parallelism in form, 
style, and ornamentation are so striking that the merest tyro in 
archceology cannot fail to perceive that they are both not only 
products of the same civilisation, but of the same artists. For 
these pre-Celtic folk were very artistic in their ways, ornament- 
ing everything, even their spear-heads. But artistic genius is 
not a new element in archaeology, for long before the pre-Celtic 
period in Scotland the caves of the Dordogne were inhabited by 
a race of hunters whose carved works on ivory and bone excel 
even those of the shale workers of the Clyde. But perhaps, as 
both are pre-Celtic, the latter may have been descendants of the 
former, and may thus have acquired their artistic tastes and 
skill through heredity ! 

" Let me also observe, for the whole subject is full of 
suggestive matter, that all the objects in the combined collec- 
tions from Dunbuie and Dumbuck which can be labelled as 
weapons — some half-dozen spear-heads — are made either of 
slate or shale, and are absolutely worthless as real weapons, so 
that they must have been manufactured for some other purpose, 
perhaps to adorn the walls and battlements of their hill and sea- 
^ Proc. S. A. Scot, vol. xxx. p. 308. 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 159 

side residences — for it would be a violent contradiction to all 
our experience of prehistoric man to accuse him of using un- 
suitable material for any purpose whatever. Some suggest that 
the black figurines were idols, others that they were children's 
toys. The same may be said of the amulets and ornamental 
pendants. Indeed, a childish, meaningless touch characterises 
them all, whatever may have been their purpose. Is it not of 
surpassing interest to find a fort on a cold, bleak hill, and a 
stone crannog on the Clyde, containing so many children's play- 
things, and almost nothing else? 

" In attempting to solve the riddle of this most remarkable 
art gallery — idols, amulets, and ornaments of shale and shell — 
there are just two alternative conclusions to be formulated. 
Either these objects are what the investigators assert them to 
be — the genuine relics of the inhabitants of the fort and cran- 
nog, or they are not. On the former hypothesis we have before 
us the most remarkable collection of archaeological remains 
ever found in Scotland. On the latter, they are the productions 
of some idle, practical joker. 

"One word in conclusion. I wish to state that I have not 
the slightest clue to the provenance of the relics whose genuine- 
ness I here call in question, as my opinion is based entirely on 
their inherent character and total variance with all other archaeo- 
logical remains known to me." 

The appearance of the above article was at first regarded 
by many as a "bolt from the blue," and a volte face on 
my part, so little was it known that I had openly expressed 
the very same opinion three months earlier. In course of 
the animated controversy which ensued in the columns of 
the Herald only two correspondents came forward in 
support of my views, viz. the Rev. Robert Munro, Old 
Kilpatrick, then personally a stranger to me, and an 
anonymous writer who signed his letter "F.S.A. Scot.'' 
From Mr. Munro's letter I have pleasure in quoting the 
following extract, from which it will be seen that he was 
the first to direct attention to the questionable nature of 
some of the "finds" at Dunbuie. 



i6o ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

" Old KihPATRiCK, /an uary yfh, 1899. 

"Sir, — At the start, when the Dunbuie finds were brought 
before the notice of our local Naturalist and Antiquarian Society, 
I felt constrained to object to the genuineness of several of the 
articles shown, on the very same grounds that they are now 
objected to by Dr. Munro. Not only are they dissimilar in type 
from anything else of the kind found in Europe — and so cannot 
be placed in any recognised class or system— they consist of 
objects almost exclusively made of slate or shale, materials 
easily workable by a nineteenth-century Neolithist, but materials 
never voluntarily selected by genuine primitive man when better 
and more suitable substances lay, as in the present instance, 
ready to his hand. Besides, the carvings and lines on many of 
the objects in question are so clear and fresh as at once to 
suggest that they are of recent origin. So convinced was I of 
the truth of this position that I again gave expression to it at 
Edinburgh in 1896, after hearing Mr. A. Millar, f.s.a. scot., 
read his paper on the subject before the Society of Antiquaries. 
The so-called crannog at Dumbuck may or may not be a cran- 
nog — possibly it has not yet been fully investigated so as to 
disclose all its details — but its contents are even more marvellous 
than those of the fort. 

" In any case the Helensburgh Antiquarian Society cannot 
allow the matter to rest where it does. It is bound, I think, in 
the interests of scientific truth, to sift the matter to the bottom. 
It can scarcely refuse to accept the challenge of Dr. Munro that 
all the various finds be submitted to experts to give their final 
decision in the matter. Mere newspaper controversy or logo- 
machies of whatever kind will not advance the matter one step. 
If the fort of Dunbowie and the wooden site on the Clyde are 
to throw any light on the past, or to be of any help in adding to 
our knowledge of the science of archaeology, there ought to be 
no difficulty or unwillingness in the way of agreeing to subject 
all the objects to the most open and searching scrutiny. This 
much Dr. Munro and all those who are of the same opinion 
with him are entitled to ask. 

" I am, etc., 
" Robert Munro, b.d., f.s.a. scot., f.r.s.e." 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY i6i 

On the other hand, numerous opponents to my views 
entered into the fray, many writing in a tone of un- 
necessary anger, and all condemning my action as 
"hasty," "injurious," " mischievous," and even "bru- 
tal." But for such language it will be now seen that there 
were no grounds whatever. 

RECEPTION GIVEN TO THE DISCOVERIES AT DUMBUCK 
BY VARIOUS ARCH^OLOGICAL SOCIETIES 

I now proceed to describe briefly the reception given to 
papers of Messrs. Donnelly and Bruce on the Dumbuck 
"crannog," successively read at the Glasgow Archaeo- 
logical Society, the British Archceological Association, 
and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

i. Glasgoiv A7'ch£Eological Society 
At the monthly meeting of the society, held on the 19th 
January, 1899, Dr. David Murray, ll.d.. President, in 
the chair, Mr. W. A. Donnelly read a paper on the 
Dumbuck crannog. As Mr. Donnelly's paper has not 
yet been published in the Transactions of the society, I am 
obliged to fall back on a report which appeared on the 
following day in the Glasgmv Herald. This is unfortunate, 
as one naturally expected that such an interesting dis- 
covery in the neighbourhood of Glasgow would be more 
fully described in the publications of that society than 
anywhere else. 

According to the newspaper report, the Hon. Secretary 
(Mr. J. Dalrymple Duncan) and others expressed great 
sympathy with the investigators, but no archaeological 
discussion took place. The speech of the President is 
thus reported : — 

" He was sorry it should have been thought necessary that 
anything should be said with regard to the suggestion of 
forgery. He thought that was a question to which prominence 
M 



i62 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

should not be given by discussing' it. The discovery of the 
crannog was a matter of very great interest. The shale articles 
found were proof of the genuineness of the discovery. Similar 
articles had been discovered in the valley of the Clyde, and that 
had a good deal to do with the age of the structure, which, he 
thought, would take them back to somewhere about the period 
of the Roman occupation. He thought it was utterly out of the 
question to say that the articles were Palaeolithic, but un- 
doubtedly they might be Neolithic." 

ii. British Archceological Association 
It appears that this Association was kept well informed 
of the progress of the Dumbuck excavations, as there is, 
in the September number of the /oiirnal {i8g8), a graphic 
account of the discovery of the "crannog" and of some 
of its earlier relics, including the canoe, ladder, spear- 
heads, some of the shale images, etc. These notices are 
continued in the next number of the Journal (December, 
1898), and on the 15th March, 1899, we are informed that 
Mr. Donnelly read, at a meeting of the Association, a 
"most interesting paper on his recent discoveries of 
prehistoric remains in the Clyde valley," which, of 
course, included a description of the "crannog" and its 
relics. 

In these communications some curious information is 
given as to the position of some of the relics. In the 
September number of the Jownal (p. 282) we are in- 
formed that a slaty spear-head, an arrow-head of bone, 
and a sinker stone were found in the debris inside the 
canoe. " In the cavity of a large bone," says the writer, 
"was also got an ornament of a peculiar stone. The 
digger unearthed it from the deposit at the bottom of the 
canoe, about 14 feet from the bow and near to a circular 
hole cut in the bottom about 3I inches in diameter." 
What a funny place to hide a precious ornament, for 
I take this peculiar stone to be that with the human hand 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 163 

incised on one side and three men rowing in a boat on 
the other ! (see Plate XV., No. 10). 

With regard to Mr. Donnelly's paper (read March 
15th, 1899^ Dr. Brushfield, in the course of the dis- 
cussion, said: "There could be little doubt that the 
structure and remains belong to the Neolithic Age ; 
the absence of metal in the discoveries indicated that 
fact." 

The Rev. H. J. Dukinfield Astley, editorial secretary 
of the Association, in criticising the paper, made a state- 
ment to the effect that my opposition to the Neolithic 
theory of Dumbuck was due to personal reasons. On 
reading a report of the meeting, which appeared shortly 
afterwards in the Athenceiim, I addressed the following 
letter to the editor (published 8th April, 1899) '• — 

"In a report of a meeting' of the British Archaeological 
Association, which appeared in your issue of the 25th instant, 
the Rev. H. J. D. Astley states that, owing- to the controversy 
which has arisen on the subject of the Dumbuck crannog-, he 
had been led to renew his acquaintance with Dr. Munro's writ- 
ings, and that ' he saw at once two very plain reasons for the 
learned doctor's recently assumed attitude on this question, viz. 
that, supposing the Clyde crannog- should be assigned, as 
Mr. Donnelly and others infer, and Dr. Brushfield admits, most 
probably to the Neolithic Agfe, it would disprove two of 
Dr. Munro's most cherished theories— (i) that there was an 
upheaval of the West Coast of Scotland, forming- what is 
known as the twenty-five-feet break, corresponding- to a depres- 
sion of the western and southern coasts of Eng-land, at some 
time subsequent to the Roman occupation ; and (2) that the 
idea of pile dwellings or crannogs was a later importation of 
the Celtic peoples into the British Islands.' 

"Will you kindly allow me to make the following remarks 
on these extraordinary statements ? 

" I. My attitude on the question of the Dumbuck crannog 
has not been recently assumed. My opinion was openly ex- 



i64 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

pressed to the investigators on the occasion of my visit to the 
crannog-, and communicated in writing" to them next day 
(October 13th, 1898). This letter has since been published in 
the Glasgow Herald oi ]a.nn3xy i6th, 1899. (See stipra, p. 151.) 

"2, I never cherished, and nowhere published, the opinion 
that the upheaval of the West Coast of Scotland, indicated by 
the twenty-five-feet raised beach, was subsequent to the Roman 
occupation. My theory is the very opposite to this, viz. 
(quoting the ipsissima verba) ' that in Scotland this movement 
was subsequent to the appearance of man in the district, but 
prior to the Roman occupation of Britain.'^ 

"3. I do not know of any crannog in Scotland that can be 
assigned to pre-Roman times, nor do I know of a true pile- 
dwelling in Scotland belonging to any period. Mr. Astley says 
that he desires at present to preserve an open mind on the 
subject. If he continues this attitude long enough, he may 
ultimately come to see the incongruity of holding that a wooden 
structure, consisting of three layers of beams resting on com- 
paratively recently deposited mud on the banks of the Clyde, 
and having associated with it a canoe (barely covered with that 
mud), a quern, and the bones of the ordinary domestic animals, 
is a monument of the Neolithic Age. Meantime the Journal of 
the association of which he is the honorary secretary has the 
distinction of illustrating the first Neolithic quern found within 
the British Isles, dated two thousand years before the Christian 
era ! At that time, in my opinion, the very mud on which the 
so-called crannog so proudly reposes was probably still un- 
disintegrated in the bosom of its mother rock. But while 
Mr. Astley keeps his mind open with regard to these and such 
like theories, I would recommend him, before entering on the 
field of motives, to discard the weapons of misquotation and 
misstatement of facts." 

A reply to this appeared on April 29th, the purport of 
which was that the report of the AthencEuvi was in- 
accurate. The explanation of the adroit way in which 
my upheaval theory was altered, so as to give plausibility 

^ Journal of the ArchcBological Institute, September, 1898, p. 285. 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 165 

to the charge of having opposed the Neolithic theory of 
Dumbuck for selfish reasons, was as follows : — 

" I can assure Dr. Munro that I quoted him in my remarks 
with perfect exactness. My argument was as follows : If it is 
the case that there was an upheaval of the West of Scotland, 
indicated by what is known as the twenty-five-feet raised beach, 
at some time subsequent to the appearance of man in the dis- 
trict, but prior to the Roman occupation, then it is quite plain 
that no structure, whether crannog or not, of the Neolithic Age 
could be found in the bed of the Clyde at the present level, in 
the position which the Dumbuck (so-called) crannog occupies." 

I made no reply to this illogical statement, as anyone 
could have seen that, if he really quoted me correctly, 
there was nothing in my theory to prevent a crannog 
being constructed during, at least, some portion of the 
Stone Age with as much facility as at any subsequent 
date. On the other hand, according to the post-Roman 
theory, which implies that the site of the crannog 
previous to the upheaval would be covered with water 
to the depth of twenty-five feet, in addition to the three 
feet to eight feet which now cover it at every high tide, it 
would be practically impossible to construct anything in 
such a depth of water. 

Shortly afterwards Mr. Astley (the author) kindly pre- 
sented me with a copy of an article entitled " On Orna- 
ments of Jet and Cannel Coal, on Cup-and-Ring Mark- 
ings, and on Slate Weapons, as characteristic of the 
Neolithic Age."^ The main purport of this paper would 
appear to be to prove, by archceological evidence, that 
the shale and slate ornaments, weapons, and all the other 
heterogeneous objects of the Dumbuck crannog be- 
long to the Stone Age. A mere glance at its contents 
disclosed so many misstatements and misrepresentations, 

^ Reprinted from the Joicrnal of the British Archceological Associatioti, 
June, 1900. 



i66 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

especially of my own archceological opinions, that I 
thought it advisable to take public notice of his facts and 
argumentative methods. So I wrote a review of his 
paper and forwarded it for publication in the Reliqtiary 
and Illustrated Archceologist ^ where it appeared in due 
course (April, 1901), under the title — "Is the Dumbuck 
'Crannog' Neolithic?"^ 

In due course, another contribution to the Dumbuck 
controversy appeared from the pen of Mr. Astley, 
which, he informs us, "is in substance throughout, and 
particularly in the appendix," a reply to my criticism of 
his former paper in the Reliquary and Illustrated Arch- 
ceologist. 

Like its predecessor, this brochure, which extends to 
thirty-three pages, with drawings of three " idols " from 
Dumbuck, a " Churinga from Dunbuie " (Plate XVII.), 
and what purports to be an oyster-shell '^ having a human 
face carved on it, is a reprint from the Journal of the 
British Archceological Association (September, 1901). 
Its title-page bears the following : " Some Resemblances 
between the Religious and Magical Ideas of Modern 
Savage Peoples and those of the Prehistoric Non-Celtic 
races of Europe." Part of the wide scope of this inquiry 
is thus defined : — 

" In the course of our argument we shall also prove that 
certain implements and amulets, weapons and figurines, and 

^ The reason for the appearance of this review was that the Council of 
the Association declined to publish in their Journal a critical reply to 
Mr. Astley's statements, notwithstanding that my remarks were restricted 
to a contradiction of misrepresentations affecting- myself alone, so as to 
counteract the erroneous doctrines to which they had given currency in my 
name. With this review I incorporated the substance of my letter to the 
Council (pp. 114 onwards to the close of the article), the only material altera- 
tion being the change from the second to the third person. 

^ There is no object in the Dunbuie collection like this so-called 
" Churinga," nor an oyster-shell carved with a human face. The only 
object in the Clyde Art Gallery that has a resemblance to the former is 
a shale amulet from Dumbuck (PI. XV., No. 2) ; and as to the oyster-shell, 
I presume it is a mistake for the famous limpet-shell so adorned (Fig. 54). 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY' 167 

rock-drawing's, about which there has been much discussion, 
and which are confidently pronounced to be forgeries in 
certain learned quarters, are not by any means unusual — were, 
indeed, to be expected — are in all probability genuine ; and 
that, as genuine, they are most interesting relics of a stage 
of culture for which a place can be very easily and naturally 
found in the civilisation of our islands ; while, should they 
after all ever be proved to be not genuine — and the onus pro- 
handi lies upon their detractors — the line of argument adopted 
in this paper is not thereby in the smallest degree invalidated ; 
it only possesses one proof the less ; one link in the chain of 
evidence is removed, but the chain can be made complete with- 
out that link." 

From this extract it would appear that criticism is 
unnecessary, as the disputed relics of Dumbuck are 
of secondary importance to the real object of the paper — 
merely a "superfluous link" in a chain otherwise com- 
pleted. In short, the author holds that, if they are not 
genuine they ought to be, as such things were, indeed, to 
be expected. 1 

When the Langbank structure was finally excavated, 
as described on page 145, Mr. Astley was early on the 
field with his opinion of the new discoveries. In an 

^ As this paper was merely a rechauffd of his previous arguments and mis- 
representations to which I had already replied {Reliquary, vol. vii. ), I took 
no notice of it. Moreover, by this time it was evident that Mr. Astley's mind 
was impervious to legitimate argument. In this new effort he again freely 
indulges in quotations ; but like those of his previous paper, they are all 
more or less garbled, as the following, which is selected because it is short, 
will show: — "Dr. Munro asserts that the 'ornaments of jet, amber, and 
bone,' mentioned by me, 'can be definitely assigned to the Ages of Bronze 
and Iron.' This cannot be the case." He then goes on to show from 
Bateman's Ten Years' Diggings that some jet ornaments belong to the Stone 
Age. Anyone not conversant with Mr. Astley's methods, on reading the 
above, could hardly avoid agreeing with him. But alas ! misquotation, the 
besetting weakness of the Dumbuck champion, again humiliates him. 
The words I used were, ^Hhe majority oi ornaments of jet, amber, and bone," 
etc. (see Reliquary, vol. vii. p. 113). 



i68 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

article entitled ''Some further Notes of the Langbank 
Crannog,"^ he introduces the subject as follows : — 

** Some might be disposed to say : ' Have we not had enough 
of these Clyde crannogs ? After all they concern the Scotch 
archaeologists more than they do us, and we might well leave 
them to fight out the battle for themselves.' But I think this 
would be taking a narrow, parochial view of the subject. We 
are the British Archaeological Association, and it behoves us, 
each one, to prove unceasingly, ' Nihil a me Britannicum 
alienum puto.' Moreover, the problems embraced, as they 
involve far-reaching questions on the condition of Early Man in 
this island, are of importance to all ^;'zVz!s-/z archaeologists." 

It will be remembered that our author in his previous 
brochures fought on the side of the defenders of the Neo- 
lithic theory of Dumbuck, maintaining that the very piles 
were cut and sharpened by stone implements.^ It is 
therefore interesting to know what his position in the 
controversy now is. 

" My own first impression," he writes, " was that the Lang- 
bank crannog might, from these evidences, be adjudged of later 

^ Reprinted from the Journal of the British Archaological Associatioti, 
April, 1903. 

'•^ Those who are not above desiring- amusement from archaeological 
discussions may turn to the following- reply which Mr. Astley has made to 
my evidence that the piles at Dumbuck were fashioned with metal tools : — 
"Dr. Munro and his friends would, without doubt, have propounded an 
equally emphatic opinion — so universally accepted — that the tool-markings 
and the cutting of the mortice and tenon-joints at Stonehenge were the 
'result of sharp metal tools.' But now, as I write, even these colossal 
works in hard stone are proved to have been fashioned by the despised 
Neolithic axe. How simple, after this, was the sharpening of the Dumbuck 
piles. And yet it is on the theory of the impossibility of any such thing that 
Dr. Munro throws down his sheepskin and challenges 'the final coup to 
the Neolithic theory of Dumbuck.' I accept the challenge— so may it be. 
Let the evidence now forthcoming of the higher stage of Neolithic culture, 
as disclosed at the great monument, be the coup to my contention of the 
origin of the ornaments and work at Dumbuck, or to the pre-Baconian 
theories of all those who would deprive the Neolithic race of even the very 
rudiments of ornament, art, or hewn architecture" {Brochure No. 2, 1901, 
P- ZZ)- 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 169 

date than that of Dumbuck ; but suice the discovery of the 
amulets, and seeing" that the style of construction is in both 
cases similar, and that the ' finds ' in each fall into line with the 
other discoveries at Dunbuie and Auchentorlie in the immediate 
neighbourhood, I M^ould assign all to about the same period, 
viz. somewhere towards the close of the Roman occupation of 
Britain, when, as may be inferred from Bede, the Picts, who 
were the natives of the locality, would appear to have been still 
in the Neolithic stage of culture. The amulets of Cannel coal, 
together with the inscribed slate and shale spear-heads, shells, 
and rounded stones, belonged to the orig-inal constructors and 
inhabitants of the crannogf, and bore a very real and vital 
relationship to their religious and totemistic arrangements ; the 
brooch and comb belong, if not to a later time, at least not to 
the original inhabitants, but to a Celtic tribe who may very 
probably have invaded and ousted them from Lang^bank, and 
dwelt in their settlement," 

With the above finally amended statement Mr. Astley's 
opinions may henceforth be allowed to drop out of the 
controversy — noting, however, the fact that he now assigns 
the three stations, Dunbuie, Dumbuck, and Langbank, 
to "somewhere towards the close of the Roman occupa 
tion of Britain." 

[Since the MS. of this volume was placed in the hands 
of the publishers a new side-issue regarding some strange 
objects, said to have been found in Portuguese dolmens, 
has been imported into the Clyde controversy, in which 
Mr. Astley has taken a prominent part. In a communica- 
tion to the Antiquaryy April, 1904, he writes: "I will 
merely say here, on this point, that my arguments are 
brought to a scientific conclusion in my paper, ' Portu- 
guese Parallels to Clydeside Discoveries,' reported in 
your issue for March, which will shortly be published." 

I have seen the article in Portugalia and the published 
"scientific conclusion" of Mr. AsiXey {Journal of B . A . A . , 



I70 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

April and August, 1904), and can only say that, even had 
I space to discuss the matter I would not do so for two 
reasons. First, because I see no parallelism whatever 
between the contrasted objects from the Portuguese 
dolmens and the Clyde ancient sites, beyond the fact that 
they are both "queer things." And, secondly, because 
some of the most eminent European scholars regard the 
objects described and illustrated in Portugalia as forgeries. 
The learned Director of \hQ^ Musee de St. Germain, M. 
Salomon Reinach, thus writes about them: "Jusqu'a 
nouvel ordre, c'est-a-dire jusqu'a preuve formelle du 
contraire je considere ces pierres sculptees et gravees 
comme le produit d'une mystification. J'aimerais con- 
naitre, a ce sujet, I'opinion des autres savants du Portu- 
gal " {Revue Archeologtque, 4th S., vol. ii., 1903, p. 431).] 

iii. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 
On the 8th of May, 1899, Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. 
SCOT., read an account of the excavation of the Dum- 
buck '' crannog " at the monthly meeting of this Society, 
Sir Arthur Mitchell, k.c.b., m.d., ll.d., in the chair. 
The author confined his remarks to a description of the 
structural details of the crannog — characterising it as a 
pile-structure — and of the relics associated with it, without 
expressing any opinion as to the age or period to which 
the remains belonged. Unfortunately, owing to delay 
in transit, the boxes containing the bulk of the relics had 
not arrived in time to be exhibited at the meeting, so 
that the only relics then shown were a quern and an oak 
pile freshly pulled (at my request), which had been for- 
warded at an earlier date. 

In commenting on the facts laid before the Fellows, 
I especially directed attention (i) to the cutting marks 
made in pointing the wooden pile which I attributed 
to a metal axe ; (2) the presence among the relics of a 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 171 

quern ; and (3) the superficial position of the structure in 
the Clyde deposits, as conclusive evidence that the site 
and its remains were of post-Roman date. 

Sir Arthur Mitchell, in thanking Mr. Bruce for his 
communication, suggested that before publishing this 
record in the Proceedings it would be desirable to have 
the site carefully surveyed by the engineers to the Clyde 
Trust, with reference to its present submerged condition. 
The only outcome of this, so far as I know, was the 
following statement which appeared in the Glasgow Herald 
about the middle of June, 1899 : — 

"THE DUMBUCK CRANNOG. 
*' (from a correspondent.) 
"The work of examination and excavation of this remarkable 
arch^olog"ical discovery still continues, as does the lay and 
scientific interest in its features and revelations. In a world- 
wide correspondence which has flowed in upon Mr. Donnelly, 
the discoverer of the crannog", it is seen that the conditions 
of the Clyde in the distant past have a very wide interest both 
for the student and the historian. Since its discovery in July 
last year, as notified and described in the pages of the Herald, 
and so graphically illustrated in the Evening Times, the crannog 
has been visited by some dozen learned societies and thousands 
of the general public. It has also been the special study of 
experts in this field of archaeology, with the result that the find 
stands to-day an assured evidence and relic of the ancient 
dwellers on the banks of the Clyde — the man of the Stone Age. 
Amongst the eminent scientists who have taken special interest 
in the crannog, and in practically examining' the objects re- 
covered from it, is Sir Arthur Mitchell. Sir Arthur, after 
hearing Mr. John Bruce's paper read before the Society of 
Antiquaries in Edinburgh, suggested that Mr. W. A. Donnelly, 
artist, should, besides his large collection of drawings of the 
crannog, its features and finds, execute a number of sections 
and all still remaining unrecorded features. Sir Arthur further 
extended his sympathetic interest by requesting Mr. James 
Deas, Sen., c.e. , engineer to the Clyde Trust, to include this 



172 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

crannog' in the present survey being" made of the Clyde and 
foreshores, and the taking" of levels on and near the crannog. 
This has been done. Mr. Deas instructed two of his assistants 
— Mr. Robertson, c.E. , and Mr. Mitchell, c.e. — and their men 
to make a special and minute record of the crannog site, 
features, and levels. This w^ork has been executed this week, 
to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Donnelly, who guided in the 
work in such a way as to make it possible to have many 
important features recorded which under other circumstances 
would have been omitted, or would have cost much expense 
and labour to re-excavate. At the crannog these June days the 
scene was very picturesque, the boats of the Clyde Trust riding 
idly in the offing, while the sun-browned Clyde Trust men, so 
physically fit, toiled and laboured in the tropical sun, guided by 
Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Robertson. Many cuttings and sections 
were made, east, west, north, and south. Mr. Donnelly made 
it possible for them to do what has not hitherto been done — a 
section right into the crannog proper, wedge-shaped, in fact, a 
segment of the circular structure, revealing the fact so often 
recorded, that it is a timber structure, not a stone one. Several 
valuable finds were made while prosecuting this work — some 
stone spear-heads and also horn implements, large teeth, ribs, 
and chisels of horn. Mr. Robertson also unearthed a very 
formidable oaken war club, four feet six inches long. The out- 
standing feature was revealed that the crannog was built on the 
secure foundation of a splendid bed of the finest blue clay. 
When Mr. Deas has his plan and sections made from the very 
exhaustive measurements and levels it will form an independent 
and authoritative chart from which the actual position and levels 
of the crannog can be ascertained. The work was very trying 
in the waters and mud of the foreshore under a sun which 
recorded a temperature of 117 degrees in the light. Scientists 
all over the country are greatly indebted to Mr. Deas for the 
sympathetic and practical manner he has • approached this 
antiquarian work, and Mr. Donnelly speaks in glowing terms 
of the efficient and practical manner in which the Clyde Trust 
men have executed the work on every occasion. Mr. Donnelly 
and his men, on behalf of the Helensburgh Society, have 
excavated 30,000 cubic feet of clay, sand, and mud since first 



1 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 173 

the excavations were begun. Some of the most important 
parts are yet to be done, such as the well, the southern break- 
water, and the dock in which the great war canoe was found. 
Advantage is being taken to have this work done while the 
weather is favourable, and, as hitherto, all important facts of 
value will be recorded in the press." 

I heard little more of the Dumbuck discoveries till the 
Annual Meeting of the Society on the 30th of November, 
1899, when the Secretary announced that Mr. Bruce had 
" kindly consented to recast his paper on Dumbuck for 
the present session, when it would be read and the whole 
of the finds exhibited." 

At the meeting of the Society (May 14th, 1900) Sir 
Arthur Mitchell, k.c.b., again presided.^ The paper, as 
recast, contains little that is new. There is, however, a 
singular omission. In his account of the animal remains 
there is no mention made of fragments of the horns of 
the fallow-deer. Now when I visited the crannog I was 
shown two or three fragments of some kind of palmated 
horn, which I was told had been identified as those 
of the fallow-deer. One of them reminded me of a small 
fragment found at Lochlee, and identified by Professor 

^ A few days before the meeting" the foUowingf note was sent to me 
by one of the secretaries : — "The committee have resolved, in the peculiar 
circumstances of the case, to depart from their usual custom and print any 
discussion that may take place on the paper to be read next meeting" by Mr. 
Bruce on Dumhiick, and I am requested to intimate that they would be 
pleased if you could make it convenient to be present at the meeting" and 
take part in the discussion. 

"An opportunity would be g"iven of revising" any remarks you mig"ht 
make before they were printed. 

"By direction of the committee I am writing" similar letters to other 
gentlemen, Fellows of the Society, who have discussed Dumbuck in the 
public press." 

I was not present at the meeting" owing" to various reasons, some being" 
that I had expressed my views on the Dumbuck " crannog " when Mr. 
Bruce read his first paper on that subject : that these views were already 
published : and that nothing in the interval had occurred to lead me to alter 
them. 



174 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Rolleston as that of the reindeer. The idea which passed 
through my mind at the time was that the Dumbuck 
fragments might also have been remains of the reindeer. 
I did not, however, examine them with care, as I urged 
the importance of sending all the animal remains without 
delay to be examined by an expert. Now in the selection 
of horns and bones sent to Dr. Traquair I could find 
none of the fragments previously shown to me as those of 
the fallow-deer. I need not say that the identification 
of the remains of either of these species of deer, on an 
inhabited site in the valley of the Clyde, would have 
been one of the most interesting features of the Dumbuck 
find. Dr. David Murray, in an article on the Dumbuck 
" Marine Structure,"^ mentions fragments of "antlers of 
the red-deer and fallow-deer " among the contents of the 
refuse-heap. It may be mentioned that, during the news- 
paper correspondence, I made use of the reported presence 
of fallow-deer horns among the debris of Dumbuck as an 
argument against the theory that the structure belonged 
to the Neolithic period, because this kind of deer was 
first introduced into Britain by the Romans.^ Remains of 
the fallow-deer have not, therefore, been found in older 
deposits than Roman kitchen remains, as at London Wall 
and Colchester, where Professor Boyd Dawkins recognised 
its characteristic antlers.^ 

On the chairman inviting discussion on Mr. Bruce's 
paper the first speaker was Dr. Joseph Anderson, who 
dealt in a lucid manner with the main features of the case. 
With regard to the relics, he said that there was nothing 
exceptional in the chronological horizon of a portion of 
them from both sites (Dumbuck and Dunbuie), but as 
regards another portion, he could find no place for it in 

1 Scofs Pictorial, October 29th, 1898. 
^ Glasgow Herald, January 14th, 1899. 
^ Cave Hunthig, p. 132. 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 175 

any archceological series, having '' no recognisable affinity 
with any objects found anywhere else." 

"For my part," said Dr. Anderson, "I do not consider it 
possible or necessary in the meantime that there should be a 
final pronouncement on these questions. In the absence of 
decisive evidence, which time may supply, I prefer to suspend 
my judgment — merely placing the suspected objects (as they 
place themselves) in the list of things that must wait for further 
evidence, because they contradict present experience. It has 
often happened that new varieties of things have been regarded 
with suspicion on account of their lack of correspondence with 
things previously known, and that the lapse of time has brought 
corroboration of their genuineness through fresh discoveries. If 
time brings no such corroboration, they still remain in their 
proper classification as things whose special character has not 
been confirmed by archaeological experience." 

The only other Fellow present, besides the chairman, 
who took part in the discussion, was Dr. David Christison, 
who said that the difficulty in freely accepting the objects 
found at Dunbuie had been increased rather than dimin- 
ished by the discovery of ''objects of startling novelty" 
at Dumbuck. 

Sir Arthur Mitchell, in summing up the discussion, said 
that the comments passed would serve a useful purpose ; 
nor did the fact that they were by no means all in agree- 
ment "lessen their value." The Society had no function 
to give a deliverance on such matters, and the Fellows 
could hold their own opinions. He made the following 
judicious and much-needed remarks on the distinction 
between genuineness and authenticity : — 

"When quite new objects present themselves with claims to 
antiquity, it is certainly proper to examine those claims with 
care. This would be proper if there was nothing peculiar about 
them beyond their newness, that is, their not having been seen 
before ; but a careful examination of them becomes still more 
clearly proper if there is anything about their character, in 



176 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

addition to newness, raising' doubts as to their genuineness. 
There may be little or no hesitation in accepting objects as 
genuine objects of antiquity, and yet some uncertainty as to 
their authenticity. It is, of course, a deeper doubt, which 
extends to genuineness as well as to authenticity." 

In the present case he thought the duty of the Society 
was to preserve both the record and the objects till further 
experience would decide the matter. This experience 
might "be derived from fresh explorations in other 
localities, or from further explorations at Dumbuck itself, 
or from a fuller knowledge of the circumstances in which 
the doubted objects were found." It seemed to him that 
"we should, in the meantime, speak hesitatingly of the 
Dumbuck structure as a crannog." In connection with 
this point he regarded the position of the structure as of 
some importance. 

"It is situated," he adds, " on the Clyde, at a place which 
was at one time a ford — not a ferry. There are indeed many 
references to the Dumbuck Ford. When the Clyde was 
deepened, great changes, we know, occurred in the region of 
Dumbuck, the result of dredging on a great scale, and also of 
river buildings, not far from the structure. There is still, I 
think, a guiding light at Dumbuck. It is now, if I mistake not, 
a gas light, but I think it was at one time a light from an open 
fire of flaming coal. On these matters, however, I have no 
certain information. But the history of Dumbuck as a ford 
seems to me to deserve looking into."^ 

The result of the discussion was to put the Clyde dis- 
puted objects into a category of suspense. They are now 
placed in a case by themselves, along with the few un- 
questioned relics with which they were associated, where 
visitors to the Museum can inspect them and form their 
own opinions as to their archceological value. The 

^ For a full report of the discussion at the Society of Antiquaries of Scot- 
land, see their Proceedi?igs, vol. xxxiv. pp. 456 et seq. 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 177 

publication of the discussion has also, in another way, 
served a good purpose by revealing to archaeologists 
beyond Scotland the fact that Scottish antiquaries were 
by no means unanimous in regarding these grotesque 
shale objects as genuine relics of Scottish civilisation. 

Then follow replies from those invited to take part in 
the discussion, but who were not present.^ 

Mr. Andrew Lang begins by trying to establish a 
similarity between some Australian things and the Clyde 
ornaments, and concludes his communication as follows : — 

"That a forger, presumably ig"norant of the recently ascer- 
tained Australian facts, was unlikely to counterfeit objects of 
which he could scarcely have heard. He would have forged 
familiar^ not tinknoimi objects. The level of Australian material 
culture, in any case, is infinitely below that indicated by the 
structure of Dumbuck. 

" If genuine, the marked stones of Dumbuck and Dunbuie 
indicate the survival, into a relatively cultured age, of a 
singularly archaic set of ritual and magical ideas." 

Dr. David Murray concludes his communication as 
follows : — 

" River cairns are commonly built on piled platforms, and my 
doubt is whether this is not the nature of the structure in 
question. It is difficult to suggest why a pile-dwelling should 
be placed on a spot dry for several hours every day. The so- 
called causeway would be under water at high and of no use at 
low tide. The supposed dock in which the canoe was found 
would be equally useless, being at one time on dry land and at 
another twelve feet under water. The canoe does not seem to 
have been associated with the structure. It is similar to other 
Clyde canoes, one of which was found a short distance to the 
east. The other finds are puzzling, but we need not condemn 
them because we do not understand them." 

^ My letter to the secretary is not published, but an extract from Pre- 
historic Scotland is given in which my opinions on the subject are expressed. 



178 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

OTHER OPINIONS OF THE RELICS OF DUMBUCK 
AND DUNBUIE 

In order to make the above sketch as representative as 
possible within the limits at my disposal, it is interesting 
to add the following opinions of some eminent authorities 
who took the precaution to examine the relics before pro- 
nouncing judgment on them. 

A letter from the late Mr. Henry Stopes in the 
AthencEum of October 12th, 1901, affirming his belief in 
the genuineness of the Clyde relics, was answered in the 
next issue of that journal by Mr. J. Romilly Allen, 
F.S.A., editor of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archceolo- 
gist, as follows : — 

" I challenge Mr. H. Stopes to get any responsible museum 
curator to pass these as genuine antiquities of the Neolithic 
period. It would be an advantage to the public if some archae- 
ological Sherlock Holmes would endeavour to discover the 
name and address of the practical joker to whom we are in- 
debted for having taken in so many distinguished antiquaries."^ 

Mr. Charles Hercules Read, Secretary of the Society of 
Antiquaries, and Keeper of the British Antiquities in the 
British Museum, writes in a letter, dated 7th December, 
1901, as follows : — 

" I did enjoy the pleasure of seeing the Dumbuck and 
Dunbuie 'antiquities.' What puzzles me is the purpose served 
by this curious swindle. Where does the fun come in, and 
who, besides people like you and me, is enjoying the joke ? 

I met , and he endeavoured to get me on the argument, but 

I declined, not having then seen the things. His line is founded 
on the petitio principii. A merely literary man cannot under- 
stand that to practised people the antiquities are as readable as 
print, and a good deal more accurate." 

Professor Boyd Dawkins, who has frequently expressed 
the opinion that the idols and the other "queer things" 

1 Athenceiim, 19th October, 1901. 



THE CLYDE CONTROVERSY 179 

from the Clyde were spurious, had recently an oppor- 
tunity of seeing the objects in the National Museum in 
Edinburgh ; and the result of his investigation was the 
following letter which appeared in the Glasgow Herald on 
the loth April, 1903 : — 

"Owens College, Manchester, Aprils, 1903- 
" Sir, — On my way through Edinburgh last Monday I was 
led by the controversy in your columns as to the age of the 
above sites to examine the collection made from them in the 
National Museum of Antiquities. The collection is as a whole 
unique, and unlike any collection from any other archaeological 
site in Europe. Four oyster-shells from Dunbuie particularly 
attracted my attention. Two worn shells belong to the common 
British oyster, and demand no further notice. Two fresh shells 
have the characteristic purple muscular impression of the 
American oyster, and are unmistakable Blue Points. All have 
one or more holes drilled in them. If these belong, as is 
alleged, to the age of the Dunbuie hill-fort, it is obvious that 
the inhabitants ate Blue Points, and that the importation of 
American oysters to the banks of the Clyde began before the 
discovery of America. It is easier to believe that the oysters 
in question are neither prehistoric nor mediaeval, and that they 
found their way into the refuse-heap after the importation of 
American oysters to Glasgow at some time during the last 
thirty years. "lam, etc., 

" W. Boyd Dawkins." 

Considering the diversity of opinions thus held and 
published in archseological and scientific journals, literary 
magazines, and the daily press, we can hardly complain 
if the public saw in these investigations a suitable subject 
for ridicule. And yet, the two submarine structures in 
the estuary of the Clyde, along with the portion of the 
relics, of which there can be no doubt as to their being 
genuine, are, perhaps, the most interesting and novel 
discoveries of recent times within the Scottish area. 
But, instead of trying to interpret the social exigencies 



i8o ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

which gave rise to such novel archceological phenomena 
in the Firth of Clyde, the investigators pay no attention 
to any opinion unless it be associated with a belief in the 
authenticity of the grotesque and ridiculous "idols" et 
omne hoc genus, which have so greatly startled the archaeo- 
logical world beyond the environments of Glasgow. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE ARCH^OLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AT DUNBUIE, 
DUMBUCK, AND LANGBANK, INDEPENDENT OF 
THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 

PROPOSE in this chapter to discuss the archaeological 
evidence which the materials, found during the ex- 
cavations of the hill-fort of Dunbuie and the two sub- 
marine structures of the Clyde estuary, have placed at our 
disposal for forming an opinion of the age and period to 
which they belong, without taking the shale ornaments 
and other disputed objects into account. To use these 
latter objects as evidence for or against the conclusions 
thus arrived at would be a glaring case of petitio principii. 
Let no one, however, run away with the idea that they are 
devoid of evidential elements. On the contrary, these 
are so explicit and important in the general inquiry that 
they will be considered in a separate chapter. 

(l) THE HILL-FORT OF DUNBUIE 

There are no structural features in the hill-fort of 
Dunbuie by which it can be differentiated from numerous 
other stone forts in Scotland. The foundations of a nearly 
circular wall of dry stone masonry, 13^ feet thick, en- 
closing a space 30 to 32 feet in diameter, and to which 
there had been an entrance a little over 3 feet wide, 
with indications of a guard chamber on each side, are all 
the architectural data disclosed by the excavation. Had 
any remains of intra-mural chambers or of a stone stair 



i82 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

been detected it would unhesitatingly be pronounced a 
broch ; nor, in the absence of such evidence, can it be 
definitely dissociated from that peculiar class of Scottish 
buildings, because the portion of wall then remaining was 
not sufficiently high to exclude the possibility of these 
broch characteristics having been present at a higher 
level — a structural deviation which has occasionally been 
met with. Of course, had the Dunbuie fort been actually 
proved to be the remains of a broch, no sane person 
would for a moment entertain the idea that its ruins con- 
tained the debris of a Neolithic or pre-Celtic civilisation. 
All the brochs hitherto investigated have shown more or 
less precise evidence of a post-Roman civilisation, their 
range, according to Dr. Joseph Anderson, being "not 
earlier than the fifth and not later than the ninth cen- 
tury. "^ Although from more recent discoveries, as, for 
example, the broch of Torwoodlee, Selkirkshire, there is 
good reason to believe that their range might legitimately 
be brought nearer to Roman times, it makes no difference 
in the correctness of the statement that they all belong to 
the Iron Age. But, putting the supposition that the 
Dunbuie fort was a broch altogether aside, and consider- 
ing it as a mere circular fort or tower, it is not without 
parallels in the neighbourhood, as I will now endeavour 
to show. 

On April 19th, 1892, while a local antiquary and myself 
were on our way to the vitrified fort of Dunskeig, in the 
north of Cantyre, I jotted the following notes of a ruined 
fort of dry stone masonry which we accidentally came 
upon. 

The summit of Dunskeig extends some 150 yards in 
length from east to west, and about half that in breadth. 
At each end of its long diameter are the remains of an 
ancient fort. One, the first we came to, situated on the 

^ Archceologia Scotica, vol. v. p. 146. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUNBUIE 183 

eastern brow, looked at a little distance like a cairn of 
stones. Its original form was that of a circular building 
of dry stones enclosing an area a few paces in diameter. 
Portions of the inner surface of the circumscribing wall 
were still in situ. Its thickness was found to be 14 feet 
on the east side, where its only entrance was placed. 
This entrance was in the form of a passage, 4 feet 6 inches 
wide, but showed no evidence of a guardroom. The 
continuity of the wall on the inner side of the fort could 
be traced all round, and here also the evidence of recesses, 
side chambers, or stairs in the wall was of a negative 
character. The fort was therefore not a broch. 

During the summer of igoo, while staying with friends 
in Argyllshire, I inspected the ruins of a circular fort 
situated on a precipitous knoll about half a mile north of 
Lunga House, and to the east of the new road to Kilmel- 
fort, which presented similar characteristics. The portions 
of the wall still remaining disclosed a thickness of 14 feet, 
an internal diameter of 25 to 30 feet, and one entrance on 
the south-east side. On examining the surface of what 
remained of the wall I noticed one or two empty spaces in 
its interior which might have been the bases of chambers, 
but there were no indications of a stair. 

I also inspected, along with Mr. David MacRitchie, 
F.s.A. SCOT., another roughly circular fort, on the east 
bank of Loch Lomond, in the vicinity of some submerged 
wooden structures supposed to be remains of a crannog ; 
but the exact nature of this fort was also uncertain, as 
there remained of it little more than the foundations of 
the wall. 

Dr. David Christison thus writes of a circular fort 
which he explored in the vicinity of Loch Awe : — 

" Suldhe Chennaidh (the name of the fort) has evidently been 
a round tower of dry masonry, with a wall" 14 feet thick at the 
base, and of considerable height, as proved by the amount of 



i84 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

debris remaining after the removal of large quantities to build a 
dyke. This took place in the lifetime of Mr. Macdonald's 
father, who could remember when the ruin stood to a height 
of about 20 feet. The important question whether it is a broch 
or not cannot be quite conclusively answered, although the 
evidence is negative, on the whole. No sign of a stair or 
gallery in the thickness of the wall, or of a doorway leading 
to such was found ; but as the structural part remaining does 
not exceed 4 feet in height, the absence of these signs of a 
broch is not decisive ; and all that Mr. Macdonald has to say 
as to his father's information is that he never heard him 
speak of stair, gallery, or window in the structure."^ 

Unfortunately, the removal of the soil and grassy 
covering of the rocky floor of the interior of this fort 
yielded no relics, except the remains of some rude 
hearths, ashes and charcoal, and some fragmentary bones, 
w^hich, so far as they could be identified, belonged to the 
horse, stag, and roe. 

An exceptionally interesting fort of dry masonry, on 
the island of Luing, has been partially explored and 
described by Dr. Allan Macnaughton.^ This fort is oval 
in shape, measuring about 66 by 40 feet (internal diameter), 
and the thickness of the wall varies from 16 feet, at its 
ends, to 10 feet in the middle. It had two entrances, one 
a simple passage, and the other, though smaller, gave 
access to a chamber and a stair in the interior of the 
wall leading upwards. The larger entrance, 14 feet long 
by 5| feet wide, had two door-posts, on one of which (the 
surface facing the interior) were fifteen cup-marks, 
measuring from i to 2 inches in diameter and ^ inch in 
depth. The relics found in the course of the investiga- 
tions are the following — the description being slightly 
abbreviated from that in the Proceedings of the Society : — 

Four water-rolled pebbles of quartzite and mica schist, 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxv. p. 122. 
- Ibid., xxv. p. 476 ; xxvii. p. 375. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUNBUIE 185 

from 5 to 31 inches in length, and abraded at their ends 
for use as hammer-stones. 

An oval pebble of quartzite {tracked s tone) ^ 3f inches in 
length by 2f inches in breadth and i inch in thickness, 
having a narrow groove formed along its major axis on 
both sides, shallower towards the ends than in the middle 

(Fig- c^i)' 

" Small quern of slate, upper and lower stones 5 inches 
in diameter. These small querns have been occasionally 
styled snuff or mustard querns, but in either case the 




Fig. 



Tracked Stone from Luing Fort (4) 



use of them for this purpose would be comparatively 
modern." 

A large quern of slate, 2 feet 8 inches in diameter. 

Part of an iron blade, probably a knife or dirk, \\ inch 
in length. Two pieces of iron slag, one of them mag- 
netic. 

Portion of a small rod, or pin, of brass or bronze, not 
unlike the slender handle of a mediaeval spoon, having at 
one end a piece of thinner metal attached. 

A fragment of coarse pottery, a slab of sandstone, 
8J inches square and i inch thick, showing on both sides 
marks of usage, fragments of discs and pounders and 
much-charred wood. 

During the excavations quantities of the shells of edible 



i86 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

molluscs, chiefly limpets, whelks {Littorina littorea), and, 
less abundantly, oysters, were met with. The animals 
represented by the bones were the red-deer, roe, pig, ox, 
seal, and some undetermined birds. 

The small quern was found at the north-east corner of 
the fort, near the surface. Thus, both its position in the 
debris, and its function of grinding snuff, though now a 
forgotten custom, suggest that the fort had been inhabited 
up to comparatively recent times. Why the investigation 
of this interesting ruin had been abandoned seems 
unaccountable in face of the following remarks : — 

"When it is remembered," writes Dr. Macnaughton, "that 
the fort interior is filled with debris to a height of 8 or g 
feet, one cannot but consider that in this great mass there 
may He much that is certain to be of interest. The work 
hitherto done at the fort is but a mere fraction of what is 
required in order to ascertain its true character and something 
also about its builders and occupants. Resembling the brochs in 
its thick and massive walls of dry-stone, its stairs, its chambers, 
its contents, yet differing from them in its great size, its oval 
shape, and its two entrances, it forms an archeeological puzzle 
which only extensive excavation can help to solve." 

So far, therefore, as structure gives any indications of 
antiquity the simple round towers must be regarded as 
mere variants of the broch, probably of later date than 
the earliest brochs. At any rate there is nothing to 
justify us in assigning any of them to a pre-Broch 
period. 

Looking now at the ordinary relics collected in the 
debris of Dunbuie, viz. a few pointed objects of bone, 
two upper stones of quern-mills, some abraded pebbles, 
pounders, rubbers, whetstones, etc., we see that they are 
quite in harmony with the remains found on analogous 
structures and on contemporary inhabited sites, such as 
the crannogs. The absence of pottery and metal is by 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUMBUCK 187 

no means an unusual circumstance among the Scottish 
forts hitherto explored. Out of some ten forts examined, 
pottery was found on five sites, viz. Dun Fheurain, 
Castle Law, the Laws, Seamill, and Abernethy, amount- 
ing to four fragments on three and a few more on Castle 
Law and Abernethy. On the Lochlee crannog, notwith- 
standing its richness in industrial and domestic relics, 
only five small portions of a whitish, unglazed ware, with 
circular stride as if made on the wheel, were found — all 
of which might have been portions of the same vessel. 
Metal objects were equally restricted in number, and their 
distribution among these ten forts was confined to a few. 
To argue, therefore, from the absence of metal and 
pottery at Dunbuie, that the site is Neolithic, as thus set 
forth in the article on that fort in the Proceedings of the 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, is simply fatuous : — 

" The articles found are strongly indicative of a much earlier 
period than post-Roman — they point to an occupation of a tribe 
in their Stone Age. For although the absence of metal is not 
in itself sufficient to infer a Stone Age, when we find so many 
weapons, cutting implements, and personal ornaments of stone, 
and none of bronze or iron or any other metal, we have pre- 
sumptive evidence that this tribe had not acquired the every- 
day use of metals ; the total absence of pottery is another 
evidence of a very early stage of civilisation. " ^ 

(2) DUMBUCK SUBMARINE STRUCTURE 

In criticising Mr. John Bruce's first report of the exca- 
vations at Dumbuck to the Society of Antiquaries of 
Scotland (May 8th, 1899), I maintained, on the following 
grounds, that the structure was a relic of the Iron Age. 
First, that the woodwork showed unquestionable evidence 
of having been cut and shaped with sharp metal tools ; 
secondly, that its superficial position in the sedimentary 

^ Proc. S. A, Scot., vol. xxx. p. 307. 



i88 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

deposits of the Clyde basin was inconsistent with the idea 
that its construction dated back to the Neolithic period ; 
and thirdly, that all the genuine relics discovered up 
to that time belonged to post-Roman times. 

With regard to the implements and tools with which 
the piles and other woodwork were cut and shaped, it 
is now generally admitted that they were made of metal, 
probably iron.^ It is therefore unnecessary to say any- 
thing more on this subject. 

From the geological point of view the Neolithic theory 
of Dumbuck is equally untenable. To look for Stone 
Age remains, such as flint implements, arrow-heads, etc., 
one does not go to recent deposits on the present sea- 
beach, but to those which were formed in prehistoric ages. 
On the supposition that a crannog, or any analogous 
habitation, had been constructed in that remote period 
near the line of low-water mark, its site would be now, 
doubtless, a long way inland and buried some 8 to 12 feet 
beneath the accumulated silt, probably long ere now 
converted into arable land. The early Iron Age relics 
found when excavating Kingston Dock were buried 15 
feet below the surface (see p. 230). The alluvial deposits 
which have accumulated during and since Neolithic times 
in the shallows of the Clyde estuary have greatly en- 
croached on the water-course ; but the increase of mud 
around the wooden structure at Dumbuck since it was laid 
down is only equal to the thickness of the three layers of 
wood — probably less than a foot in depth. The super- 
ficiality of the so-called stone pavements, one of which 
is described by Mr. Bruce as " 6 feet wide and just awash 
with the mud," shows the absurdity of the Neolithic con- 
tention. I have elsewhere suggested that some of these 
causeways may have been laid when the cairn was being 
demolished (see p. 139) ; and the extension of one from 

^ See p. 219 ; and Reliquary and Illustrated Archceologist, vol. vii. p. ii8. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUMBUCK 1S9 

the central woodwork to the burn, or artificial canal, 
supports the probability of this suggestion. 

Among the ''objects of types which are familiarly 
known to archaeological science from their frequent 
occurrence in other sites of early occupation," are two 
which have a special chronological value, viz. an under- 
stone of a quern and a " tracked stone" (Fig. 34). Both 
these objects are characteristic of the early Iron Age, 
no specimen of either having been found, to my know- 
ledge, in any remains belonging to the previous ages. 

The quern is an ingeniously constructed machine, the 
use of which implies a considerable advance in mechanical 




Fig. 34. Tracked Stone from Dumbuck (|) 

skill. It appears to have been first used in France during 
the later Marnian, or La Tene, period ("Late Celtic" 
of the British Isles). It is the immediate successor to 
the "saddle quern," which consisted of two flat stones, 
the upper being used to crush the grain by a rolling 
or rubbing process. Such were the millstones found by 
Schliemann in hundreds in the strata of all the prehistoric 
cities of Hissarlik. They were also common among the 
debris of the Swiss lake-dwellings ; but no rotatory quern 
has been found, to my knowledge, in any Neolithic or 
Bronze Age station in Europe, The oldest known querns 
in Britain are those found in Glastonbury lake-village, 
and in Hunsbury Camp, near Northampton ; but the 
examples from both these sites can scarcely be dis- 



190 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

tinguished from those found on Roman stations. The 
Romans may be said to have been the introducers of the 
quern into North Britain ; but who were its actual in- 
ventors seems to be unknown. The mention of stones 
^'millstone-like" by Horner^ only proves that corn was 
ground between stones of a particular size, which therefore 
might have been saddle querns. 

The "tracked stone" (Fig. 34), whatever may have 
been its special function or purpose, whether a point- 
sharpener, as many maintain, or a strike-a-light, is 
equally good evidence that the people who used such 
things flourished in the Iron Age, as none of them have 
been found in any of the previous ages. They are not 
very common in Scotland, this being the ninth specimen 
known to me, viz. four from Wigtownshire,^ one from the 
Borness Cave, Kirkcudbrightshire,^ one from each of the 
brochs of Lingrow (Orkney), and Kintradwell (Suther- 
landshire), and one from the south fort of Luing (Fig. 33), 
as already described. In Ireland, however, they are more 
common, being occasionally among the relics on crannog 
sites, no less than ten specimens associated with numerous 
iron implements and objects of medieval times having 
been found on the crannog of Moylarg, co. Antrim.* 

In Scandinavia and Finland these objects were often 
manufactured with much care, generally in the form of a 
pointed oval with a groove along the margin for the 
attachment of a leathern strap, by means of which a 
warrior could carry one suspended from his belt. They 
are, however, also found as simple oval pebbles, precisely 
like the Scottish and Irish specimens. One of this kind 
is figured on Plate III. (p. 428) of the Bologna volume of 
the Congres International d' Antliropologie et d' Archeologie 
prehistoriqnes, 1 87 1 . 

^ Iliad, vii. 270. '' Catalogue of National Museum, AL. Nos. 83-6. 

■' Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. x. p. 492. 

** Jojirnal of the Royal Society of Aritiquaries of Irela7id, vol. xxiv. p. 326. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUMBUCK 191 

As to their function, my own opinion is that they were 
used as strike-a-lights. The central groove, often slant- 
ing a little to one side, was intended to guide the direc- 
tion of a piece of flint which, when held in the right hand 
— the tracked pebble being in the left — and struck 
smartly, produced sparks of fire. But even on the 
supposition that they were point-sharpeners — and I see 
no reason why they should not have been used for both 
purposes— they could only be effectually used to sharpen 
pointed tools and instruments of metal. 

All the other relics (except, of course, the disputed 
objects) such as the bone pointers, the sawn and cut por- 
tions of deer-horn, the hammer-stones, whetstones, 
abraded water-worn pebbles, etc., are just what one 
would expect to find in the debris of an inhabited site 
of early mediseval times. 

Among the animal bones found in the refuse-heap was 
a tooth of the horse, which shows that this animal was 
then used as food. Now horseflesh was forbidden by the 
Church as an article of food in the latter part of the 
eighth century, because it was eaten by the Scandinavian 
people in honour of Odin. It would appear, however, 
that the deeply rooted prejudice against the use of this 
animal as a source of human food, which prevails at the 
present day, was only gradually acquired, as it is re- 
corded that the monks of St. Gall ate the flesh of wild 
horses in the eleventh century. At any rate, the presence 
of remains of the horse among the food refuse left by the 
occupiers of the Dumbuck submarine structure is good 
presumptive evidence that the date of its occupation was 
not later than the tenth or twelfth century. It would be 
interesting to know if there are any historical notices 
extant to show when the horse ceased to be used as food 
for man in North Britain. 

I venture to say that no experienced archaeologist will 



192 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

deny that the above facts and arguments are strong 
evidence that the Dumbuck structure and its associated 
relics belong to the Iron Age, probably dating to some 
portion of that most obscure period of Scottish history 
vvhich followed the final withdrawal of the Roman 
soldiers, and lasted to the dawn of true history some 
six or seven hundred years later. 

None of the archaeologists who have figured in the 
Clyde controversy has offered any convincing evidence 
of the real purpose for which these submarine structures 
were erected, the most plausible suggestions on this 
point being that they had something to do with the early 
navigation of the estuary, or with a ferry or ford which 
formerly existed near the site of Dumbuck. Recently, 
however (March 28th, 1903), the Rev. Robert Munro,B.D., 
minister of Old Kilpatrick, published in the Glasgotv 
Herald an article entitled " Crannog or Fish-bothy?" 
which at once brought Messrs. Lang, Astley, Murray, 
and a host of other authorities into the correspondence 
columns of that journal. The purport of Mr. Munro's 
communication was to show, from documentary evidence, 
that " at a very early period it was customary to construct 
on or near the Clyde houses which were kind of bothies 
for preserving the fish and for affording shelter and 
accommodation to the fishermen." No one who read the 
evidence adduced in this article could deny that it was 
suggestive and, at least, worthy of the most careful 
consideration. It had, however, the fatal sting that, if it 
could be accepted as the liaison d'etre of the submarine 
structures of the Clyde, there would be no longer room 
for doubt as to the bogus nature of the grotesque shale 
objects. It was to this correspondence that Professor 
Boyd Dawkins referred in his letter to the Herald on his 
discovery of American oyster-shells, known as "blue 
points," among the relics from Dunbuie. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT DUMBUCK 193 

As the point raised by Mr. Munro is only in a second- 
ary way related to the question of the genuineness of the 
disputed objects, it is unnecessary to enter here on a dis- 
cussion of its merits, nor into the animated controversy 
to which it gave rise. Readers will be better served by 
allowing the author to state his case. This he has briefly 
done in the following communication to the Athenceitm 
of April i8th, 1903, which is an abstract of his paper to 
the Herald :—^ 

"CRANNOG OR FISH-BOTHY? 

"Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire. 

" About five years ago a wooden site with outer layers of 
piles and other features was found on the margin of the river 
Clyde, near Dumbuck. Without much consideration its dis- 
coverers proclaimed it to be a crannog of the Neolithic period. 
To that opinion they and a few others still cling ; even although 
it has been proved to the satisfaction of all competent archaeolo- 
gists that it was not a crannog, but the foundation of a mediaeval 
building of some sort. As there still exists doubt on the part 
of a few as to whether the Dumbuck structure is a crannog, 
and a crannog belonging to the Neolithic age, perhaps you 
will allow me space for certain facts gleaned from the early 
charters, and from the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 
which I am not without hope will help to throw light on 
this subject. 

" From the first quarter of the thirteenth century down till 
recent times, the ancient Earls of Lennox, the monks of Paisley, 
the Colquhouns of Colquhon and Luss, Lord Lyle of Duchall, 
and others, had yairs, for catching fish, constructed on the 
Clyde and the Leven, and on Loch Lomond and Lochwinnoc 
vide Registruni Monasterii de Passelei, pp. 14, 212-15, 250-1 ; 
Cartitlai'iiini CoinitatiLS de Levenax, p. 25 ; Carhdary of Colqu- 
houii, pp. 6, 7, 15. As late as 1632 there is an Act of Charles I. 
by which it is ordained that as his ' subjects dwelling upon 
the bounds of the Firths of Forth and Clyde have been at 

^ The paper as here reproduced has been revised and slig"htly amended 
by the author. 



194 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

all times heretofore, and still are at some seasons of the year 
chiefly maintained by the fishing's thereof ' none fish ' according 
to the ancient custome [i.e. with cruives and yairs\ except the 
natives ' {Acts Pari. Scot., vol v. p. 245). 

'■^Yairs were the subject of legislation in Scotland since the 
days of William the Lion, and were the frequent cause of 
litigation in the law courts from the thirteenth century to the 
beginning of the nineteenth centur)\ 

" But besides criuves and yairs there is reference in the old 
charters to houses and shielings for the fishermen, and in 
one case to a bothy, which served both as a house for pre- 
serving the fish and for providing accommodation to the 
fishermen when detained in their fishing operations. The earliest 
reference of this kind is in the Dotiatio et confirtnatio Maldoveni 
Comitis de Levenax, Terre et Piscarie de Lynbren, date 1255. 
By this donation Maldoven, Earl of Lennox, besides granting 
to the Paisley monks certain lands and privileges in the Vale of 
Leven, also gave them permission to fish both sides of the 
Leven, and over the water as they pleased. It further conferred 
the right ' to fish his lake of Leven, in its whole extent, with the 
liberty of drying their nets and making houses and shielings for 
their fishermen as well in the islands of the said lake as in his 
adjacent lands '('cum libertate siccandi retia sua et faciendi 
domos et scalingas piscatoribus suis tam in insulis predicti lacus 
quam in terris meis circumjacentibus.' — Reg. Mon. de Pass., 
p. 212). 

"Another very important reference is in the charter, entitled 
Carta de Piscarie de le Crukyshot, granted by Robert, Lord 
Lyle, to the monks of Paisley, in 1452. This charter bestowed 
upon them and their successors the third part of the entire 
fishing of Crookedshot on the Clyde belonging to his lands of 
Auchentorlie and Dunnerbuck, ' with a small piece of land 
touching upon and in the neighbourhood of the aforesaid third 
part of the fishing of Crookedshot for the purpose of erecting 
a house suitable for the preservation of the fish and for the use 
of the servants of the said Abbey and Convent when detained 
in that place' ('cum particula terre contigua et vicina prefate 
terti parti piscarie le Crukytshot ad construendum unani do- 
mum sufficientum pro conservatione piscium et pro servitoribus 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 195 

inibi moram trahentibus dictorum Abbatis et Conventus qui pro 
tempore fuerint. ' — Reg: Mon. de Pass., p. 250). 

" The lands of Auchentorlie and Dunnerbuck are about half 
a mile distant from the wooden site at Dumbuck. 

" Mr. John Bruce, f.s.a. scot., in a paper on the Dumbuck 
structure, read before the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 
and published in their Transactions (vol. xxxiv. p. 438), states 
that ' in the centre there is a circular stone-walled cavity of 
about six feet diameter, inside of which were found remains 
of what seemed like wattle or basket-work of hazel twigs and 
rods.' This find of wattle or basket-work, taken along- with 
the fact that it was customary from early times to erect houses 
on or near the Clyde for the preservation of the fish and 
the temporary shelter of the fishermen, seems to point to the 
almost inevitable conclusion that the so-called Dumbuck crannog 
is the site of an old fish-bothy. As a crannog on the Clyde 
margin it would be of no use either as a permanent habitation 
or place of defence, since it would be left high and dry at each 
ebb of the tide. As a fish-bothy with its central cavity — 
possibly utilised for preserving the fish alive — it would not only 
be in the most suitable place for such a purpose, but it would 
readily explain the hitherto inexplicable questions that have 
been raised as to its situation, and origin, and use." 

(3) THE SUBMARINE STRUCTURE AT LANGBANK 

Just as the Clyde controversy was becoming stale in 
local and quasi-archseological circles, the announcement 
of the discovery of another "crannog" on the Clyde 
estuary added a fresh element of expectancy to those who 
had interested themselves in the difficulties raised by the 
novel revelations of Dunbuie and Dumbuck. As regards 
function and date of occupancy, as indicated by the 
superficial position and general arrangement of the wood- 
work, there can be no doubt that the chronological 
horizon of this new site corresponds with that of Dum- 
buck. Its chief and almost only relics — the bone comb 
with Late Celtic ornamentation and the small brooch of 



196 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

brass or bronze (Plate XIL) — are also in harmony with 
the post-Roman date of construction previously assigned 
to Dumbuck and Dunbuie, and having a possible range 
of from 400 to 1200 A.D. But while in the two former 
stations there was not a single object which suggested 




Fig. 35. Bone Comb found on Ghegan Rock and Objects 
associated with it (y) 

a more definite position within that range, we have in 
these two exceptionally interesting relics presumptive 
evidence to fix the date of the occupancy of Langbank 
probably nearer the distal than the proximal end of the 
above-named range. As this question is by far the most 
interesting which the Clyde investigations have yet brought 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 197 

on the field of discussion, we shall, as briefly as possible, 
look into its merits. First as to the comb. A comb 
(Fig. 35), ornamented with a Late Celtic pattern very 
similar to that on the Langbank specimen, was found 
among the ruins of a Romano-British habitation on the 
*'Ghegan Rock," East Lothian.^ Ornamental toilet 
combs have also been found on the sites of brochs, 
crannogs, kitchen middens, etc., of early mediaeval times 
both in Scotland and Ireland.^ The ornamentation on 
one of the combs found on the kitchen midden at Elie,^ a 
site of about the eighth century, may also be regarded as 
a Late Celtic design, as I have observed the very same 
pattern on pottery from the lake-village of Glaston- 
bury. It consists of a circle enclosing two circles, each 
having a diameter of half that of the former, precisely 
as is the case with the Ghegan specimen, except that 
in the latter instead of perfect circles we have slight 
ovals. 

The ornamental design on the Langbank comb has, 
therefore, justly excited the curiosity of arch^ologists ; 
and, there being little known of the duration of the " Late 
Celtic " period in North Britain, it is not a matter of 
surprise to find one critic, Mr. Ludovic Maclellan Mann,* 
arguing that this design proves the Langbank habitation 
to have been constructed in pre-Roman times. His 
argument is as follows. From Sir W. Franks' well-known 
opinion on the duration of the "Late Celtic" period in 
South Britain (200 B.C. to about 100 a.d.), Mr. Mann 
maintains that the range of time for the Langbank 
comb "may be taken with safety as from 100 B.C. to 
250 A.D." Again, in comparing its design with that 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. viii. p. 375. 

^ See Ancient Scottish Lake-dwell itigs , Fig's. 217, 218, 219, and 255 to 259. 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot. J vol. xxxv. p. 286. 

■* Glasgow Herald, December 12th, 1902. 



igS ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

on the analogous comb from the Ghegan Rock (Fig. 35), 
he writes : — 

"It is understood that the archceological horizon to which 
the Ghegan specimen has been assigned has been taken by 
some inquirers as a guide to the age of the Langbank specimen. 
It is, therefore, of importance to show, as can easily be done, 
that the curvilinear incised work on the Ghegan comb is of a 
later type. In the Ghegan specimen the lines are unpleasing, 
without grace, and comprise stiff geometrical ovals, the whole 
design being degenerate and having little or no likeness to the 
Late Celtic patterns," 

From the result of my own examination of the two 
combs I do not agree with Mr. Mann's criticism. Indeed, 
were a distinction to be made in curves made by a pair of 
compasses, I would be inclined to reverse his judgment, 
as a geometrical oval is more difficult in execution than 
a circle inscribed (excentrically) within another. Mr. 
Mann's next point is that from the entire absence of 
pottery and Roman remains "we are driven to the con- 
clusion that the site was not a ' going concern ' during 
those Roman perturbed centuries." So far his argument 
is legitimate and to the point, the most questionable 
element in the evidence being his reasons for assigning 
the Ghegan comb to a later period (a point which will be 
discussed further on). It is, however, to the inference 
he draws from faulty premises that I wish specially to 
direct attention. "We have now shown," he writes, 
"that the site is not later than the Roman period. 
Hence it may be taken to be pre-Roman in origin." Our 
author concludes his letter as follows : — 

"Whether, in attempting to fix this archaeological Enigma 
of Renfrewshire in its proper chronological place, we may dare 
venture beyond the few short Early Iron Age centuries, and 
consider, as a possible arena, the period of the Bronze Age 
Culture, with its several instances of appreciation of cup-and- 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK J99 

ring- marked slabs, is a question I leave to more capable 
inquirers." 

As one of the professed objects for which this book was 
undertaken is to expose archceological fallacies it will be 
necessary to deal with Mr. Mann's arguments systemati- 
cally, because they are plausible, and might even induce 
persons not fully conversant with Late Celtic remains to 
accept his pre-Roman theory of the Langbank structure, 
as a conclusion founded on archaeological facts. 

First of all let me remind readers that Late Celtic art 
is not a creation of the people of Britain, but a mere 
adaptation of art elements imported from Central Europe, 
a statement which I have elsewhere fully dealt with in an 
article on the " civilisations of Hallstatt and La Tene."^ 
But these foreign elements were so handled by the Celts 
of the British Isles that their work can be readily differ- 
entiated from that of any other European people, whose 
culture elements were derived from the same classical 
sources. Before the conquest of Britain by the Romans, 
Late Celtic art was practised by the inhabitants in several 
parts of Britain, without showing any trace of Roman 
influence, such as in the Glastonbury lake-village and the 
Hunsbury Camp, near Northampton. Numerous ex- 
amples of this art have also been discovered throughout 
the English provinces in graves, hoards, rivers, fields, 
etc., generally as isolated finds, but occasionally asso- 
ciated with Roman remains. In Scotland, however, 
there is not a single specimen which, so far as I know, 
can be dated to pre-Roman times. No doubt the circum- 
stances in which many of these Late Celtic objects have 
been found afford no clue to their date, but, on the other 
hand, there are others which, being associated with un- 
doubted works of Roman art, must of necessity be 
assigned to the Romano-British period. 

^ Rambles and Studies in Bosnia, etc., chap xi., 2nd ed. 



200 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Thus, of the massive bronze bracelets peculiar to 
Scotland, one, found at Stanhope, Peeblesshire, had been 
concealed under a stone, along with a Roman patella, or 
pan, very like the one found on a crannog in Dowalton 
Loch. Another was disinterred from the entrance to an 
underground dwelling (Eirde- or Picts' house) at Castle 
Newe, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, and among the debris 
of this dwelling were ''parts of querns, antique beads, 
etc." Another fact about these Caledonian bracelets, 
which suggests their post-Roman origin, is that an 
analysis of the metal of some of them showed that zinc 
as an alloy had partly taken the place of tin, a change in 
the composition of true bronze which had been brought 
about in Roman times. ^ In draining a bog near the 
manse of Balmaclellan, Kircudbrightshire, four parcels 
of bronze objects, including fragments of a mirror, with 
characteristic ornaments of Late Celtic designs, were 
found along with a highly ornamented upper quern stone.- 
A circular brooch of bronze with an exquisite pattern of 
flamboyant and spiral work in relief was found in the 
Victoria Cave, Yorkshire, along with coins of the first 
half of the fifth century of the Christian era."* 

That these Romano-British examples of Late Celtic 
work are not exceptional survivals is proved from the 
discovery of similar work associated with Anglo-Saxon 
remains. Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt * wrote as follows : — 

"A remarkable discovery, which included portions of what 
is very plausibly considered to be a helmet, was also, a few 
years ago, made on the estate of Mr. Francis Wedgwood, at 
Barlaston, in Staffordshire. The particulars of this I now for 
the first time make public. The grave, which was 7 feet in 
length by 2 feet in width, was cut in the solid red sandstone 
rock. It was about 15 inches in depth at the deepest part, 

1 Proc. S. A. Scot, XV. p. 356. '^ Ibid., vol. iv. p. 294. 

■^ Cazie Hunting, p. 93. '^ Grave Mounds, p. 258. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 



which was at the south-east corner, and died out with the slope 
of the hill towards the north-west, and the earth which covered 
it (which had probably been tempered in the usual manner) was 
only a few inches in thickness. It was on the slope of the hill. 
At the upper or northerly end of the grave a basin-like cavity, 



Fig. 




Bronze Plaque from an Anglo-Saxon Grave 
AT Barlaston (t) 



two or three inches in depth, was cut in the floor of rock. In 
this hollow, which had evidently been intended for the helmeted 
head of the deceased to rest in, was found the remains of what 
I have alluded to as justly considered to be remains of a bronze 
helmet. The skeleton had, as is so frequently the case in 
Anglo-Saxon interments, entirely disappeared, but on its right 
side lay the sword, and on the left a knife. 

"The fragments in the cavity consisted of several pieces 
of curved bronze, highly ornamented, which had probably, with 
other plain curved pieces, formed the framework of the helmet ; 
some thin plates of bronze ; a flat ring of bronze, beautifully 



202 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

ornamented, which is conjectured to have been the top of 
the framework of the helmet ; and three enamelled discs, of 
a similar character to what have been elsewhere found, with 
hooks for suspension, or attachment to leather or other 
substance. One of these is engraved, of its real size, on 
the next illustration (Fig. 36). The centre is of enamel mosaic 
work, ground down level with the metal, as in the old Chinese 
enamels. ... 

" Enamelled discs, or pendants, such as I have just spoken 
of, have been occasionally found in other localities, as will have 




Fig. 37. A Bronze Plaque from a Barrow at Middleton 
Moor, Derbyshire (}) 



been noticed in the course of the last few pages. The use 
of these curious objects is very obscure, and I am not aware 
that any very particular attention has been paid to them. 
Portions of these were found in the Benty Grange barrow, 
along with the Saxon helmet. A very perfect example (Fig. 37) 
was found in a barrow on Middleton Moor, Derbyshire, in 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 203 

1788,^ where it was found lying- near the shoulder. In the 
same barrow was a portion of another enamelled ornament, 
the iron umbone of a shield, and a thin vessel of bronze — 
described as like a shallow basin — which probably formed a 
portion of a helmet." 

I presume no one will dispute that these ornamental 
discs from Barlaston and Middleton Moor are Late 
Celtic work, and that their association with Anglo-Saxon 
remains brings their date down to at least the fifth or 
sixth century a.d. 

A few years ago a remarkable discovery — consisting of 
two Late Celtic fibulse of gilt bronze, a silver collar, a 
Roman finger ring of gold, and another of bronze with 
the setting of a gnostic gem — was made at ^sica on 
Hadrian's wall. The objects were lying together in the 
debris of a guard chamber, about 3^ feet below the surface 
and 3 feet from the original floor of the chamber. Dr. 
Arthur Evans'- on various grounds has fixed their date 
at 200 A.D. ; but this is regarded by some authorities to 
be too early, as it is difficult to believe that the guard 
chamber of a gate on the Roman wall would be a final 
ruin at the end of the second century. The same author, 
in his descriptive account of the famous gold ornaments 
found on the north-west coast of Ireland, assigns a hollow 
collar of Late Celtic workmanship, in its purest geo- 
metrical style, to the first century of our era.^ But, on 
the other hand, Mr. Robert Cochrane, f.s.a., in a recent 
communication to the Journal of the Royal Society of 
Antiquaries of Ireland,^ advances plausible reasons for 
regarding these ornaments as the property of an early 
Christian Church which existed near the spot, and 
"which, probably, suffered the usual fate of monasteries 
in Ireland at the hands of the Danes." 

^ See Bateman's Vestiges, etc., p. 24. 

" Archceologia, vol. Iv. pp. 179-98. 

^ Ibid., pp. 397-418. '' Vol. xxxii. pp. 211-24. 



204 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Still more interesting are the facts in connection with 
the discoveries on Lisnacroghera Crannog in Ireland,^ 
where the military kits of at least four men — iron swords, 
bronze sheaths, lances, and their bronze handle-mount- 
ings, and other objects — all beautifully ornamented with 
Late Celtic designs,^ were by some unknown fate 
associated in a peat bog with the usual promiscuous 
objects found on an Irish crannog. Among the latter 
were fragments of two large iron caldrons ; a large 
knife, like that of a hedge-cutter, and an ordinary axe- 
head, both of which retained portions of their wooden 
handles ; an iron adze ; a reaping-hook ; part of a gun- 
lock ; portion of " bog-butter " bearing the impress of a 
coarse cloth, etc. 

In 1865 a remarkable discovery was made in one of the 
chambered cairns on the Loughcrew hills, co. Meath, 
Ireland." This consisted of a large quantity of flat 
polished pieces of bone associated with a variety of 
objects of stone, bronze, and iron, together with a 
quantity of sea-shells, principally limpets and cockles ; 
over one hundred small stone pebbles ; 6 polished stone 
balls; beads of glass and amber as well as fragments 
of glass ; small rings of bronze more or less perfect ; 7 
specimens of iron objects, all thickly encrusted with rust, 
among them being a pair of small compasses and a 
slender chisel. But it is with the bone plaques that we 
are now concerned, of which Mr. Conwell gives the 
following account : — 

"We have been enabled to save 4,071 fragments of these in 
a plahi state — once polished, but without further ornamentation ; 
108 nearl}^ perfect in shape ; 60 where the bone material is 
little decomposed, and still retains the original polish ; 27 frag- 

^ Lake-divellings of Europe, p. 379. 

^ Ibid., Figs. 123 and 124. 

'^ See Tomb of Ollamh Fodhla, by E. A. Conwell, M.R.I. A. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 205 

meats which appear to have been stained ; 12 plain fragments 
perforated by a single hole near the end ; 500 fragments 
ornamented with rows of fine parallel transverse lines, and two 
others similarly ornamented, and perforated near the end ; 13 
combs, 7 of which are engraved on both sides, the heads only 
and the roots of the teeth of the combs now remaining ; gi 
implements engraved by compass, and in a very high order of 
art, with circles, curves, ornamental puncturings, etc., and 12 
of these decorated on both sides. In some instances the per- 
forations near the end appear to have been counter-sunk. In 
all there are 4,884 pieces."^ 

I here reproduce from Mr. Conwell's work a few illus- 
trations of these ornamented bones (Figs. 38-44), from 
which it will be seen that we have precise parallels, not 
only to the ornamentation on the Langbank and Ghegan 
combs, but also to that, on the bronze sword-sheaths of 
Lisnacroghera. The late Mr. Wakeman, apparently 
accepting the bone ornaments of Loughcrew as being 
contemporary with the cairn in which they were found, 
tried to reconcile the conflicting facts as follows :— 

"In connection with the style of the decoration which the 
Lisnacroghera sheaths and some other metallic remains found 
with them exhibit, all I shall now venture to say is, that it is 
very early — older by far than any period to which writers have 
allowed an iron culture, however overlapped or overlapping, to 
have prevailed in Ireland. It will be perfectly startling to 
antiquaries to compare the ornamentation on these sheaths 
of enamelled bronze (one of them still containing its blade of 
iron) with that which is shown upon a number of knife or 
dagger-shaped objects formed of bone, which are described 
by the late Mr. Conwell in his work entitled The Tomb of 
Olla^nb Fodhla, as having been found in a chambered earn on 
Slieve na Calliagh, one of the Lochcrew hills. This earn 
formed but one of a group of tumuli, the chambers of which 
contained indisputable evidence of pagan sepulchral rites, in- 
cluding cremation, having been practised within them. It may 

1 Ihid., p. 53. 




Figs. 38-40. Bones with Late Celtic Ornamentation 
from loughcrew (}) 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 



207 



be observed on the Lochcrew implements the great majority of 
the spiral and other designs appear to have been produced by 
the aid of a compass, a slight depression or dot remaining in 
the centre of each curve. This dot or spot was no doubt 
caused by the impression of the stationary leg of the instrument 
used in the production of the figure ; and it is curiously re- 
markable that similar dots form the centres of most of the 
beautiful arcs which appear upon the largest of the Lisnacrog- 






FiGS. 41-43. Fragments of Bone Combs with Late Celtic 
Ornamentation from Loughcrew (i) 



hera sheaths. It is a fact most suggestive to all who have 
formed, or who are forming, opinions in reference to the sup- 
posed chronological order of our antiquarian waifs, that im- 
bedded amongst the decorated bones found in the Loughcrew 
chamber a small compass composed of iron, and every way 
suitable for the production of the chaste designs which a con- 
siderable number of them exhibit was discovered. Let it not 
for one moment be imagined that I am desirous of claiming for 
the bronze crannog sheaths a degree of antiquity which must 
be assigned to the knife-shaped articles of bone discovered in a 
pagan burial chamber of the period of cremation, as has been 
just noted ; but as an observer and student of early decorative 
design, I fearlessly state that the art exhibited upon the bone 



2o8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

remains is absolutely identical with that which appears upon 
the metal."! 

A more rational explanation of the chronological 
problem, which so greatly puzzled Mr. Wakeman, 
would be to bring forward the date of the Loughcrew 
bone ornaments, so as to harmonise it with that of the 
bronze sheaths of Lisnacroghera, To accept the former 
as products of the art of the period when the pagan 
cemetery on the Loughcrew hills was actually in use 
seems to me untenable. As already mentioned, the 




Fig. 44. Late Celtic Ornament on Bone Plaque 
FROM Loughcrew {{) 

elements of Late Celtic art were not derived from the 
Bronze Age decorations prevalent in the British Isles, 
of which characteristic specimens are to be seen sculp- 
tured on nearly all the large stones which enter into the 
construction of the chambers of the Loughcrew cairns. 
These sculpturings, although disclosing a great variety 
of designs, are rude and roughly executed ; nor is there 
any evolutionary connection between them and the Late 

1 Journal R.H. A. A., 1884, p. 381. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 209 

Celtic bone ornaments. The only data which, so far as 
I can see, might suggest such a development are the 
concentric circles and spirals of the Bronze Age which 
reached Western Europe before the art influences of 
Hallstatt or La Tene. Although both spirals and con- 
centric circles are the most common ornaments on bronze 
objects within the Scandinavia archaeological area, yet 
we do not find that they ever evolved or merged into 
a style of art comparable to that of Late Celtic. What- 
ever Late Celtic elements existed there came from 
foreign sources, but not by the Danubian valley route. 
It is, therefore, in my opinion, more likely that a Celtic 
craftsman in later times deposited his stock of bone 
flakes and working appliances in the cairn as a secure 
place of concealment ; or, perhaps, he had taken shelter 
there himself with his goods, and actually carried 
on his trade in the chamber. But, be that as it may, 
I entirely agree with Mr. Wakeman in regarding the art 
of the Loughcrew bone ornaments as identical with that 
on metal from the Lisnacroghera crannog ; and, as there 
is no reason whatever for suggesting a pre-Roman date 
to the latter, the obvious inference is that the former are 
also later than the beginning of the Roman occupation 
of Britain. 

The interference of Roman civilisation with the con- 
tinued development of Late Celtic art in the south of 
Britain does not apply to Ireland, or to the north of 
Scotland. Hence, the Celts in these regions continued 
their peculiar patterns of divergent spirals and trumpet- 
shaped spaces, long after it ceased in the districts which 
came permanently under Roman government. In con- 
cluding a review of Late Celtic remains in Scotland a few 
years ago, I formulated the following deductions to which 
I still adhere : — 

(i) "The presence of querns and long--handled combs in the 
Glastonbury lake-village and in the Hunsbury camp, associated 
p 



2IO ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

with the debris of continued occupancy in which no character- 
istic Roman remains are found, points to a pre-Roman civihsa- 
tion probably due to an immig-ration of Belgic or Gaulish tribes. 

(2) *' Such relics (querns and long--handled combs) are found 
in crannogs and brochs in North Britain associated with 
sporadic remains of both Late Celtic and Roman civilisations, 
thus indicating- a later or post-Roman date. 

(3) "Objects characteristic of the Late Celtic civilisation in 
Southern Britain, such as enamelled horse-trapping-s, articles of 
military equipments, mirrors, brooches, bracelets, and torques, 
are but sparingly found in Scotland and Ireland. And as no 
settlements or cemeteries of the period have been found in 
Britain farther north than Yorkshire, nor in any part of Ireland, 
it is sug-gested that the products of this special culture and 
civilisation spread to these regions by means of commercial 
and social intercourse, rather than by an immigration of a new 
race." ^ 

There are no archceological data, that I know of, which 
militate against the idea that Late Celtic art continued to 
be practised, both in Scotland and Ireland, until its 
designs were assimilated by the early Christians, and 
actually became part of the ornamentation used by them 
in the adornment of illuminated manuscripts, sculp- 
tured stones, and metal-work. If the execution of Late 
Celtic designs is to be restricted to a couple of centuries 
before, and after, the Christian era, how is the reintroduc- 
tion of divergent spirals and trumpet-shaped spaces into 
the art of our early Christian monuments to be accounted 
for? Without enlarging on the subject it seems to me 
most reasonable to suppose that the Celtic mind eliminated 
the divergent spiral pattern from the various art elements 
which reached them from Central Europe, while at the 
same time it rejected zoomorphic and foliaceous designs 
as unattractive. The introduction of Christianity brought 
with it interlacements and fretwork which, in conjunction 

^ Prehistoric Scotla7id, p. 277. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 211 

with the pre-existent divergent spirals and trumpet-shaped 
spaces, formed the main elements in the Celtic school 
of Christian art both in Scotland and in Ireland up to 
about the tenth century, when, it would appear, the latter 
fell into disuse. Interlacements of a highly complex 
character continued, however, to be venerated for a 
couple of centuries longer, when they, also, succumbed 
to new ideas and innovations both in church architecture 
and Christian symbolism. 

On the other hand. South Britain, having lost its native 
Celtic art during the Roman occupation, had to borrow it 
in Christian times from Scotland and Ireland, a fact 
which Mr. J. Romilly Allen thus records : — 

" Spiral work is almost unknown on the early Christian 
monuments of England and Wales, being found in its greatest 
perfection on the sculptured stone work and metal work of 
Ireland and Scotland, and in the Hiberno-Saxon MSS. of the 
best period, say from a.d. 600 to 900." ^ 

The chronology of Late Celtic art thus raised deserves 
more consideration than can be given to it here ; but, 
from incidental references recently made to it by one or 
two arch^ologists, it would appear that I am not alone in 
bringing down Late Celtic work in Scotland and Ireland, 
so as to cover the entire period between its development 
in South Britain and the introduction of Christianity 
into the British Isles. Thus Mr. Romilly Allen has 
contributed to the Society of Antiquaries of London,'^ 
an elaborate and well-illustrated paper on " Metal Bowls 
of the Late Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Periods," the express 
object of which is to show " that they supply a connected 
link between the flamboyant ornament of the Pagan 
Celtic metal-work and the spiral ornament of the Christian 
Celtic MSS. and sculptured stones." In this paper he 

■^ Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, p. 374. 
'^ ArchcEologia , vol. 56, p. 39. 



212 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

figures the circular enamelled discs described by Mr. 
LI. Jewitt (see p. 200) as bowl ornaments. More 
recently the same author describes the special character- 
istics of the Late Celtic art of this transition period as 
follows : — 

"Towards the end of the 'Late Celtic' period and the 
begfinning" of the Christian period we find the flamboyant curves 
arrang-ed symmetrically within circles, as on the Elveden tankard 
belonging- to Mr. H. Prig-g- and on round disc brooches from 
the caves of Settle, in Yorkshire, Brough Castle, in Westmor- 
land, Sllchester, and elsewhere ; but without any closely coiled 
spirals being' introduced." ^ 

Dr. Arthur Evans, in his article on the Irish "Gold 
Ornaments," already referred to, thus expresses him- 
self:— 

" There is, then, good warrant for believing that a bold, pure 
style of Late Celtic art was prolonged awhile among the Celtic 
population of the north and west of our islands after the 
Roman conquest of Southern Britain. In other words, the 
stage of culture which, shortly after the beginning of our era, 
is cut short over a large part of England by the rapid increase 
of Roman influence, culminating in actual conquest, finds its 
continuous development in Caledonia and Ireland." 

Also Mr. Cochrane- writes :— 

"The period between the Late Celtic and its development 
into the Christian trumpet pattern of the seventh and eighth 
centuries has not yet been filled, and the older style of ornament 
survived longer than is generally thought." 

In face of these facts, and the opinions of highly 
competent archseologists, there is no early place for the 
Langbank comb in the serial evolution of Late Celtic 
ornaments ; nor, indeed, is there, to my knowledge, any 
positive evidence that any portion of that evolution 

^ The Early Christian JMonuments of Scotland, p. 372. 
- Loc. cit,, p. 216. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 213 

belonged to pre-Roman times in a locality so far north 
as the Clyde Valley. I agree, however, with Mr. Mann 
that the Langbank structure was not a " going concern " 
at any time during the Roman occupation of Scotland, 
for the reasons he has given. But I differ from him 
in toto, in dating it to the pre-Roman period in Scotland, 
in support of which he has advanced no argument worthy 
of being seriously considered. That a toilet comb, 
decorated with a debased geometrical design of Late 
Celtic character, should be found in the debris of a 
habitation which had become a ruin prior to the Roman 
occupation of the district is, to my mind, a most im- 
probable hypothesis. That, however, the comb may 
have been the product of Romano-British times, like that 
at the Ghegan habitation, is not questioned ; but in that 
case we would expect to find more traces of Romano- 
British influence than the little brass brooch, which may 
also claim an equal degree of antiquity. Mr. Mann's 
statement that the design on the Langbank comb is 
earlier work than that on the Ghegan specimen, if 
founded on anything more solid than mere conjecture, 
is refuted by the variety of the ornamental designs on the 
Loughcrew bone plaques, which include some precisely 
similar to those on both combs, associated with the more 
characteristic divergent spirals, trumpet-shaped spaces, 
etc. If these different patterns were contemporaneous, 
how can it be said that one is older than another? In 
truth, they all belong to the pure geometrical and later 
phase of Late Celtic art which lingered in North Britain 
in a more debased state on Highland brooches, powder 
horns, etc., to within a century or so of the present time. 
Other specimens of this art have been observed on objects 
from crannogs, brochs, hill-forts, etc. Among these may 
be mentioned the designs on a piece of wood from 
Lochlee ; ^ the massive bronze collar found on the Hynd- 

^ Lake-dwellings of Europe, Fig's. 144, 145. 



214 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

ford crannog ; ^ an enamelled disc from the broch of 
Torwoodlee ; - and another from the vitrified fort of 
Beregonium.^ But these instances are too limited to 
permit of dogmatism. At any rate, so far as archaeology 
may be trusted as a guide, it clearly points to that obscure 
period which immediately followed the withdrawal of the 
Roman soldiers from Britain as the chronological horizon 
to which the Langbank comb is to be referred rather than 
to any portion of the pre-Roman period. 

The small penannular brass or bronze brooch also 
takes its place among the relics of the early Iron Age, as 
brooches, indisputably analogous to it, if not precisely 
similar, have been found among Romano-British, Celtic, 
and Saxon remains in numerous localities throughout the 
British Isles and on the Continent. Among those more 
closely resembling it the following may be mentioned. 
General Pitt-Rivers has figured four specimens found 
among the debris of Romano-British villages — one from 
Woodcuts Common,"^ two from Rotherley,^ and one with 
ends turned back, similar to that represented in vol. ii. 
Plate I02, Fig. 15.*^ I have here copied one of these 
brooches, that from Woodcuts Common (Fig. 46), which 
is of bronze with the ends slightly ornamented. It was 
"found in the filling up of the main ditch at a depth of 
14 inches beneath the surface." From this it would 
appear to be more recent than the ordinary Romano- 
British remains. 

Of fifteen bronze fibulae found at Wilderspool, Cheshire, 
one is annular, eight are penannular, and^six are of the 
bow-shape. One of the penannular kind is here figured 
(Fig. 48) from the work of Mr. W. T. Watkin ; ' another 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot, vol. xxxiii. p. 385, Fig;. 15. 

^ Ibid., vol. xxvi. p. 81. " Ibid., vol. xix. p. 247, 

* Excavations in Cranbourne Chase, etc., vol. i. PI. 16, Fig. 10. 

^ Ibid., vol. ii. PL 102, Fig. 15, and PI. 103, Fig. 14. 

^ Ibid., vol. iv. PI. 257, Fig. 5. '' Roman Chesliire, p. 265. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 215 

(Fig. 45) was found in London excavations, and is figured 
by J. E. Price ; ^ another, of Saxon origin, is figured by 
Akerman ; ' and a specimen (Fig. 47) from the broch of 
Okstrow is figured in the Proceedings of the Scottish 
Antiquaries^^ A penannular ring with slightly bulbous 
extremities, probably a similar brooch minus the pin, 
is among the relics from Camelon in the National 
Museum, Edinburgh. Another comes from one of the 
Dowalton''^ crannogs, and yet another, very similar to the 




Figs. 45, 46, 47. Penannular Brooches from London, 
Woodcuts, and the Broch of Okstrow (|) 

Langbank specimen, was found at Hyndford.'' Brooches 
of the same type are also common in Ireland, two being 
among Dr. Buick's collection of objects from the Moylarg 
crannog,^ which includes a small leaden Christian cross 
of the tenth century, and a pendant, also of lead, with 
a Late Celtic ornamentation. A penannular ring-brooch 
with the acus projecting beyond the ring was found on 

^ Roman Antiquities , PI. viii. Fig". 7. 

'^ Pagan Saxondum, PI. XVIII. Fig". 4. With regard to this type of 
fibula, Mr. Akerman makes the following remarks : " The fibula No. 4 is 
of a form frequently met with in Angflo-Saxon interments. They do not 
occur so often in the Frank graves ; but in the cemeteries of Livonia fibulae 
of a less simple penannular shape are more common, as may be seen in 
several examples now in the collection of the British Museum " {Pagan 
Saxondutn, p. 36). ■* Vol. xi. p. 85. 

"* Ancient Scottish Lake-dwellings, Fig". 16. 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiii. p. 386, Fig. 16. 

^ Loc. cit., p. 319, Fig"s. 3 and 5. 



2i6 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

the Culbin sands, ^ a complete parallel to which was found 
in the recent excavations at Camelon. 

Dr. Hume figures five penannular fibulas," with regard 
to which he writes that — 

"the)'' are very rude examples of a kind well known. They 
are supposed to be of the later Roman period ; but objects 
of this kind are found not merely with Roman remains, but 
also among- Saxon ones. Some of the more eleg^ant forms are 
alluded to under the head ' Brooches ' ; and in Ireland especially 
they are numerous and varied, both of silver and gold. An 
interesting- example was obtained among- some Roman remains 




Fig. 48. Penannular Brooch from Wilderspool, Cheshire (f) 
Fig. 49. Penannular Brooch from Livonia (f) 



in Yorkshire ; ^ others were found at Fairford among Saxon 
remains ; "^ and numerous others are alluded to in the ordinary 
works on archaeology."^ 

This type of brooch, i.e. a penannular ring carrying a 
movable pin, is not among La Tene remains, but its near 
analogue, the ring-buckle, is represented by a few speci- 
mens, one of which is figured by Dr. Gross. "^ I need not 
say that numerous examples of the ring-buckle have been 
found throughout the British Isles in the later Iron Age. 

. ^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxv. p. 506. 
'^ Ancient Meols, PL IV. Figs. 5 to S. 
^ Wright's Arch. Essays, i. p. 25. 

•* Wylie's Fairford Graves, PI. V. Fig. 6, and PI. VI. Fig. 3. 
5 Ibid., p. 67. *> Oppidum Helvete, PL X. Fig. lo. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 217 

Outside the British Isles the penannular brooch of the 
Langbank type is very common on the southern shores of 
the Baltic. The catalogue of the Archceological Congress, 
held at Riga, in 1896, shows on Plate XIX. over two 
dozen specimens with slightly expanded and more or less 
ornamented extremities, all of which are classified as relics 
posterior to the eighth century a.d. Two from Livonia, 
one (Fig. 49) being not unlike the Langbank specimen, 
but only a shade larger, are figured by Baron de 
Baye.^ 

M. Aspelin, in a description of the characteristic forms 
of the Finno-Ougrian group during the Iron Age, thus 
refers to the penannular or horseshoe fibulce : — 

" II resulte, de ce qui precede, que la boucle en forme de fer 
k cheval provient probablement des districts occidentaux du 
groupe finnois, peut-etre est ce un emprunt fait k la LIthuanie. 
En efifet, cette boucle ce retrouve aussi en Lithuanie ; j'en ai 
not^ au musee de Schwerin quelques ^chantillons en fil de 
bronze, et de forme simple ; il s'en trouve aussi, dit-on, deux ou 
trois specimens au musee de Breslau. En revanche, il n'existe, 
k ma connaissance, aucun echantillon de I'une ou de I'autre 
forme provenant de la reg'ion slave de I'^ge du fer, de la 
Boheme, de la Galicie, de la Pologne et de la Russie. "- 

A small penannular brooch was found in a prehistoric 
station, along with some iron objects, at Citania de 
Briteiros, in Portugal.'^ The ends of this fibula are 
slightly reverted. Similar brooches are met with in 
Spain, a few specimens of which may be seen in the 
National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh. About 
two dozen of these fibulae made of bronze have been 
found in Denmark, which are assigned to the early Iron 
Age, before Roman influence extended to the country. 

^ Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons, p. 59 and PI. IX. 
'' Congris International, Stockholm, p. 671, Fig's. 19-21. 
3 Ibid., Lisbon, p. 658, PI. II. Fig-. 8. 



2i8 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

One of these is figured in the Memoires de la Societe 
Royale des Antiquaires du Nord, 1892, p. 184. 

Everything, therefore, points to the origin of the simple 
penannular brooch in Western Europe during the early 
Iron Age.^ Though occasionally met with on Romano- 
British sites in Britain, it appears to have been essentially 
a native production, nor is it among the objects specially 
associated with Late Celtic remains. Its invention was 
probably contemporary with the evolution of ring-buckles 
and the ordinary buckles so much used in military equip- 
ments and horse trappings. Notwithstanding the subse- 
quent changes it has undergone in the hands of the 
Celtic races in Scotland and Ireland, and of the Scandi- 
navians of later times, the primitive form still continued 
to exist, and it is this survivalism which renders the Lang- 
bank brooch of less chronological value than, prima facie ^ 
one might expect. The truth is, it might date from 
Romano- British times to any date up to late mediccval 
times. Its evolution into the well-known massive and 
highly ornamental Celtic brooches of the early Christian 
period forms one of the most striking chapters within 
the entire range of Celtic art in Scotland. 

There is little evidence of the age of the Langbank 
structure to be derived either from its structural details or 
its geological position. The woodwork is partly on the 
surface, and as it contains few prepared beams, the in- 
terior being made up of decayed brushwood, which no- 
where is deeper than eighteen inches, it would be 
impossible to regard the site as of great antiquity. The 

^ A penannular brooch of bronze, ornamented, and having" a movable pin, 
was found while digging- a gravel-pit at Gogar, near Edinburgh, ijn 1811, 
which seems to be not only unique, but a puzzle, to antiquaries, as it was 
associated in the gravel with relics which belong-ed to the late Bronze Age 
{Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. vi. p. 311). But whatever explanation may be given 
of the Gogar brooch, the penannular type, in its simple form, appeared in 
this country in the early Iron Age. 



THE DISCOVERIES AT LANGBANK 219 

discovery that some of the larger beams at the margin 
of the annexe had been pinned to the ground by stout 
wooden pegs showed that the structure formed the 
foundation of some kind of stone superstructure. Similar 
wooden basements were common among the stone cran- 
nogs of Scotland and Ireland. 

Evidence of cutting marks by metal tools on the wood- 
work was put beyond cavil on the day of my visit to the 
"crannog." My attention was first directed by Mr. 
Bruce and Dr. Bryce to two pointed piles, recently drawn 
up from the circle, and afterwards to the three pegs, 
already referred to, which passed through round holes in 
a horizontal beam and pinned it to the ground. Both 
my companions, without any reservation whatever, agreed 
with me that these pins or pegs, as well as the large 
piles, had been pointed by sharp metal tools. Yet the 
pile from Dumbuck, exhibited at the meeting of the 
Society of Antiquaries, showed better workmanship — 
cleaner and broader cuts, as if the tool had a sharper and 
longer cutting edge. The two iron axes from the cran- 
nogs of Lochlee and Buston, Ayrshire, were narrow 
implements, the cutting edge, in either case, scarcely 
amounting to three inches.^ 

Dr. Bryce, who I understand is describing the osseous 
remains in the committee's report to the Glasgow Archaeo- 
logical Society, informs me that he has identified among 
them bones of the Bos longifrons^ several individuals 
being represented. This is important in so far as it 
places the structure within the same chronological range 
as the Scottish crannogs. If Dr. Bryce could inform us 
when the Bos longifrons ceased to exist in the west of 
Scotland as a distinct breed, he might limit the range on 
the modernity side of this inhabited site. A typical speci- 
men of this small ox, represented by the frontal portion 

' See Ancient Scottish Lake-dwellings, Figs. 46 and 223. 



220 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

of the skull and the horn cores, was found in the Elie 
kitchen -midden which, on other grounds, has been 
assigned to the seventh or eighth century a.d.^ 

The general conclusions to be derived from the above 
investigation of the arch^ological materials supplied by 
the three Clyde sites may be thus briefly stated. They 
were constructed and inhabited in post-Roman times, but 
the range of their occupancy is uncertain ; probably it was 
different in each case. The hill-fort of Dunbuie, as re- 
gards structure, relics, and state of decay, was quite in 
keeping with analogous remains in other parts of Scot- 
land ; nor is there anything to suggest that it was 
inhabited by a colony of foreign idolaters, except, of 
course, the disputed objects. There can be little doubt 
that the submarine structures of Dumbuck and Langbank 
were the foundations of dry-stone buildings precisely 
similar to what has been observed in many of the stone 
crannogs, both in Ireland and in Scotland. Their situa- 
tion in a marine estuary is, however, a novel and in- 
teresting feature which, when carefully and impassionately 
considered, may ultimately throw unexpected light on the 
early civilisation of the district. When these structures 
ceased to be utilised for the special purpose for which 
they were originally constructed — whatever that may have 
been, whether fort, beacon, or fish-bothy — they must have 
remained for a long time as ruined cairns until they were 
finally removed, in comparatively modern times, as an 
obstruction and danger to the navigation of the Clyde. 

^ Proc. S. A, Scot. J vol. xxxv. p. 299. 



CHAPTER VII 

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE DISPUTED 
OBJECTS FOUND ON THE ANCIENT INHABITED 
SITES OF DUNBUIE, DUMBUCK, AND LANGBANK 

A CURIOUS little object, showing evidence of 
human workmanship, was once found among the 
contents of a burial cist, then just exposed under 
a large prehistoric tumulus, which, for the moment, was 
placed along with the rest of the relics. Subsequently, 
however, it turned out to be a piece of cork which had 
formerly done duty as a stopper in a soda-water bottle. 
No one doubted that the cork had been found in the cist, 
but no one could explain how it had got there, and all 
the investigators were above suspicion. Now, if these 
investigators chose to argue that the cork was a genuine 
relic of the prehistoric period, would the fact that it was, 
on unimpeachable authority, picked up inside the grave 
be satisfactory and conclusive evidence of their conten- 
tion? The cork had "precisely the same evidence of 
authenticity" as the other objects in the grave; but not- 
withstanding it was unhesitatingly rejected as worthless. 
Why? Because it bore inherent evidence of being a 
p^roduction of recent times. Now, I hold that the dis- 
puted objects under review are precisely paralleled by 
the cork, only the former may not have the evidence of 
modernity so readily decipherable as the latter. 

In order to facilitate the examination of the peculiarities 
of these unprecedented objects, it will be convenient to 



222 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

group them, so far as that may be possible, under the 
types of antiquities to which they have the greatest re- 
semblance, viz. (i) weapons, (2) implements, (3) "amu- 
lets" or pendants, (4) cup-and-ring stones, and (5) carved 
human figurines or *' idols." 

(i) Under the category of weapons are some dozen 
spear-head-like objects made of slate or shale (Plate XIIL). 
Of these, four of slate and one of shale, are from the 
Dunbuie fort, and the rest, all of slate, from Dumbuck, 
They appear to have been finished by some kind of 
coarse friction, such as could be made with a file or sand 
paper, and then more or less polished. They are all 
ornamented with linear designs scratched, sometimes on 
both sides, with a sharp tool, with the exception of one 
or two which have small cups, or cups with lines radiat- 
ing from them. The lines look as if they were freshly 
incised in some parts, but in others they appear to have 
been more or less polished over. There is no evidence 
whatever to indicate that any of these weapons had ever 
been used. Indeed, they are absolutely unfit for any 
spearing purposes, not only because of the softness of 
the material — that of the large specimen from Dumbuck 
being described by Mr. Bruce as unusually soft- — but 
also on account of the bluntness of their points and 
edges. Two of them have a small hole in the stem, and 
another has two holes, suggesting a method of hafting. 
The lower of the two holes in the Dumbuck specimen 
was so firmly plugged with a wooden pin that it had to 
be punched out. It is rather strange that a small peg of 
wood, not half an inch long and less than half that in 
diameter, should not only have retained its position but 
actually have become "fossilised or mineralised," when 
everything else — bones, horns, wood, etc., had become 
softened and greatly decomposed by the slush in which 
they lay. 



PLATE XIII 




SPEARHEADS AND liMPLEMENTS FROM DUMBUCK AND DUNBUIE 

NOS. I TO 5 = 2; NO. 6 (shale) = § ; ALL THE REST ABOUT \ 
NOS. I TO 5 AND 12 AKE FKOM DUMBUCK, AND THE REST KROM DUNBUIE 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 223 

It is curious to note how different are the inferences 
that different minds draw from the same thing. At the 
time that the Glasgoiv Herald controversy was at its 
height, I was reprimanded in a letter to that journal 
(February 4th, 1899) for not replying to the "evidence 
of genuineness attached to the spear-head at Dunbuie in 
having a root growing through it, which root must have 
been a few years old when the fort was first discovered, 
and that the large spear-head from the crannog had in 
the fossilised or mineralised oak peg a proof of very 
great age." ^ 

If the Dunbuie spear-head lay in the debris of the fort 
for centuries, what, may be asked, were the intervening 
or exciting causes which led to the growth of a root a 
few years ago, where for ages previously there was 
nothing of the kind? If, however, it had been deposited 
in disturbed debris during last year's operations, it would 
be quite natural to find a rootlet from the early spring- 
growth penetrating the aperture. 

The statement made on page 158 that all the objects 
that could be labelled as weapons were " absolutely 
worthless as real weapons," called forth at the time quite 
a chorus of disapprobation. Mr. Andrew Lang at once 
found parallels to the spear-heads " in the Oceanic area," 
as well as among the "sacred things" of a "still extant 
Neolithic race " in Australia. 

Dr. David Murray also goes far afield in search of 
analogous weapons. In a communication to the Glasgow 
Herald (March 25th, 1899) he writes as follows : — 

"The spear or lance heads are made of slate, apparently the 
common slate found on Garelochside and Lochlomondside and 
elsewhere in the district. It is objected that such objects were 
never made of slate and would have been useless if they were. 

^ I understand the excavations at Dunbuie extended over a period of 
nine months, but had been discontinued during the winter. 



224 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

This objection, however, is not well founded. Slate tools and 
weapons, although not so plentiful as those of flint and other 
hard stones, are not uncommon, and probably have not been so 
well preserved just because they were less valuable and more 
liable to breakage. The so-called ' Picts' knives ' and the 
flensing knives of the modern Esquimaux are of slate. Curved 
knives of slate have been found in Norway and Ireland. There 
are knives, axes, and other implements of slate and sandstone 
in the National Museum, Edinburgh, and in the Museum of 
the Royal Irish Academy there are numerous articles of slate 
of the stone-weapon or weapon-tool species, and resembling 
swords, daggers, knives, cleavers, and celts. The Dumbuck 
and Dunbuie objects are somewhat clumsily fashioned and want 
the perfection of form and finish that the best flint tools and 
weapons exhibit ; but this was the rule when inferior material 
was employed." 

One would suppose from these remarks that it had 
been asserted that tools and implements were never made 
of slate of any kind, or in any country, by Stone Age 
people. The materials out of which the Clyde spear- 
heads are made — soft slate and shale — are not suitable 
for either piercing or cutting purposes ; nor could any of 
them have been used in this way for the obvious reason 
that they have neither sharp points nor thin edges. Nor 
are they in any respect similar to weapons of the Stone 
Age in Scotland. Dr. Murray forgets that we are 
not dealing with real works of the Stone Age people at 
all, but with certain fantastic objects admittedly belong- 
ing to the Iron Age. Hence, in comparing these novel 
objects from the Clyde with "articles of slate of the 
stone-weapon or weapon-tool species of the Stone Age," 
he has deviated from the laws of comparative archaeo- 
logy. The precise merits of this point will be brought 
out by the following queries better than by any amount 
of discursive arguments. Where are spear-heads like 
those of the Clyde of any material to be found ? Has 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 225 

anyone ever seen cutting implements or weapons made 
of shale in any period? Or any made of slate within the 
central area of Scotland similar in texture to the material 
of which the Clyde weapons are made? Will anyone 
explain how the great spear-head of Dumbuck could be 
used as a warlike weapon, or to spear game, or fish, or 
any living thing? Has anyone seen a spear-head of 
stone hafted by means of a wooden pin passing through 
a hole in the stem? And, if no examples with any of 
these characteristics occur in the Stone Age, what reason 
is suggested for resorting to such clumsy and unprece- 
dented methods of manufacturing tools and weapons of 
friable stone when the inhabitants were in possession of 
excellent cutting implements of metal? 

The references made by numerous writers to the ex- 
istence of similar spear-heads in foreign countries, 
especially in Norway and Sweden, is a clear issue which 
can be tested by precise archaeological evidence ; and as 
this evidence is interesting in itself, and little referred to 
in English works on archasology, it is desirable to ex- 
plain briefly how this matter stands. 

In the regions north of the 65th degree of latitude in 
both these countries remains of a Stone Age civilisation, 
comprising axes, chisels, knives, spear- and arrow-points, 
etc., are met with in considerable numbers (Plate XIV.). 
These tools and weapons are made generally of native 
schist {skiffer), but sometimes of reindeer horn, and are 
so totally unlike the remains of the Stone Age found in 
the more southern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula, 
not only in material but in form, that the two groups 
can be differentiated at a mere glance. To the northern 
group Mr. Rygh has given the name Arctic., because, 
beyond the 65th degree of latitude, no flint tools, or any 
other remains peculiar to prehistoric Scandinavia proper, 
have been found, although specimens of those imple- 

9 



226 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

ments characterised as Arctic are not unfrequently found 
as far south as central Sweden. One remarkable fact 
about these two groups is that, although sporadic finds 
of both are occasionally met with within the borderland 
between their respective archaeological areas, they are 
never found together, or in any way mixed. No burial 
or inhabited site containing specimens of the two kinds 
of antiquities has ever yet been found. The interpreta- 
tion of these well-ascertained facts, according to Scandi- 
navian archseologists, is that they are the respective 
remains of two distinct peoples — the Arctic, representing 
the ancestors of the Lapps and some of the Finns (as 
similar remains are found in Finland), and the other, or 
southern, the Scandinavian people of prehistoric times. 
The former group consists of the relics of a real Stone 
Age civilisation, but there is some difficulty in coming 
to an opinion as to whether or not it is later than the 
Stone Age remains of Scandinavia proper. On Plate 
XIV. are placed illustrations of a number of typical 
objects of this Arctic group, made of schist or reindeer 
horn, which shows at a glance that they are totally 
unlike any of the Clyde objects. The Arctic spear-heads, 
though large, sometimes reaching 6 or 7 inches in length, 
have a slender shape, sharp points, and thin edges. The 
other objects in the group are equally well finished and 
adapted to the special purposes for which they were 
intended. The people who manufactured them utilised 
the native black schist, because it was the best local 
material to be got in their country. On this issue my 
opponents have landed on the horns of a dilemma. If 
the Clyde spear-heads are Neolithic relics, how are the 
early Iron Age remains associated with them to be 
accounted for? If, on the other hand, they are pro- 
ducts of the Iron Age, why were they manufactured 
at all? To compare them with the actual spear-heads 



PLATE XIV 




OBJECTS OF THE STONE AGE FROIM THE NORTH OF SCANDINAVIA 
KNOWN AS "THE ARCTIC GROUP" 

AI.L \ EXCEPT 8, 9, lO AND II, WHICH ARE ABOUT \ 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 227 

of a Neolithic civilisation, to which they have not only 
no striking resemblance in structure, form, or technique, 
but which never extended beyond a limited area, not 
even to the southern parts of Scandinavia — not to mention 
the Clyde district — seems to me to be an abuse of the 
principles of comparative archseology. 

Similar remarks are equally applicable to the spear- 
heads of slate cited from Australia, Canada, the 
"Oceanic area," etc., as well as to isolated groups of 
implements made of slaty materials in Orkney and Shet- 
land. None of the latter objects have ever been found 
as far south as the central area of Scotland, nor have 
they any structural resemblance to the products of the 
artists of the Clyde district. 

(2) The only objects which come under the category 
of implements are : a natural splinter of stone in- 
serted into the sawn end of the tyne of a deerhorn 
(Plate XIII., No. 5) ; a piece of stone (No. i) rudely 
resembling a knife inserted into a bone handle ; and a 
piece of flint also supposed to have been inserted 
into a bone handle. None of these belong to any 
Neolithic types, nor, so far as I can see, could they 
have been of any practical use in the Iron Age. Are 
they also to be paralleled with the totems and magic 
emblems of the Arunta race ? 

(3) The largest group of objects (Plate XV.) consists of 
the so-called amulets or pendants of stone, shale, and 
shell, some fifteen to twenty specimens of which have 
been preserved and recorded as having been found 
on the different stations, viz. three from Dunbuie (ex- 
clusive of a few perforated oyster shells), eleven from 
Dumbuck, and one from Langbank. Their ornamenta- 
tion is chiefly of the cup-and-ring order, only a few 
having patterns composed of straight lines. Some 
of them are so large as to be unfit to be used as 



228 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

amulets or pendants, such, for example, as that repre- 
sented by No. 14 which is 9 inches long, 3I inches 
broad, and -i inch thick. The ornamentation consists 
of a strongly incised line running downwards from 
the perforation with small branch lines directed alter- 
nately right and left. Any human being, who would 
wear this object, either as an ornament or religious 
emblem, would be endowed with the most archaic 
ideas of decorative art known in the history of human 
civilisation. Yet we can have no doubt that the 
individual who manufactured it, if he were an in- 
habitant of any of the Clyde sites, was at the same time 
living in a period not devoid of culture, and was in 
possession of excellent cutting implements, most likely 
of iron, with which he manipulated wood, deer-horn, and 
other substances. These objects are nearly all perforated, 
as if intended for suspension, but sometimes, in addition 
to this, there is a large central hole around which there 
is always an ornamentation, generally consisting of in- 
cised circles or semicircles, with divergent lines leading 
into small hollow points, the so-called cup-marks. The 
pebble with the palm of a left hand incised on one side, 
and a boat with three rowers on the other (No. 10) is the 
most remarkable of this class. It appears to have been 
found within the cavity of a broken bone, apparently the 
articular end of a leg bone of some bovine animal, which 
was " unearthed from the deposit at the bottom of the 
canoe." ^ I have not been able to learn what is the 
precise meaning, or symbolism, attributed to the device 
of the expanded hand with the cup-and-ring mark in the 
palm. Judging, however, from the care taken to conceal 
the charm, it must have been considered by its original 
owner as one of his most treasured household gods. It 
would almost appear as if these Dumbuck idolaters had 

^ See pag-e 162, 



PLATE XV 




OBJECTS OF SHALE AND STONE FROM DUMBUCK 

AI-I. ABOUT J, EXCEPT KO. 5 (aN OVSTHK SHE..) = J, ... .0. .0 (. STOKE PEBB.e) : 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 229 

suffered persecution at the hands of Celtic people, and 
had been forced to abandon their habitation in great 
haste, as suggested by Mr. H. J. Dukinfield Astley in his 
penultimate deliverance on the Clyde mystery (p. 169). 

(4) The most meaningless group — if a degree of com- 
parison be admissible in regard to a part when the whole 
is absolutely incomprehensible on archeeological prin- 
ciples — consists of a series of unprepared and irregularly 
shaped pieces of laminated sandstone (Plate XVI.) simi- 
lar to some of the stones of which the fort of Dunbuie 
was built, ^ having one of their surfaces decorated with 
small cup-marks, sometimes symmetrically arranged so 
far as to indicate parts of geometrical figures, and at 
other times variously combined with lines and circles. 
Two fragments of bones, also from Dunbuie, are 
similarly adorned (Plate XVI., Nos. 13, 14). Eleven of 
the twelve sandstone fragments which make up the 
group were fractured in such a manner as to suggest that 
the line of fracture had intersected the original orna- 
mentation, and had thus detached a portion of it. If this 
be so, there must have been originally at least two or 
three other portions which, if found, would fit along 
the margin of each of the extant portions, just as the 
fragments of a broken urn come together. Yet among 
these decorated stones not one single bit fits another, 
nor is any of the designs the counterpart of another. 
If we suppose that these decorated stones are portions of 
larger tablets on which the designs were completed, then 
either they were broken before being introduced into the 
debris of the fort, or the designs were intentionally 
executed in an incomplete state, just as they are now to 
be seen on the existing natural splinters of stone. The 
supposition that the occupiers of the fort possessed the 

^ All the specimens of this group were disinterred from the ruins of this 
fort. 



230 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

original tablets, and that they had been smashed on the 
premises, is excluded by the significant fact that only one 
fragment of each tablet has been discovered. For, in 
the breaking up of such tablets, it would be inconceivable, 
according to the law of chances, that one portion, and 
only one, of each different specimen would remain while 
all the others had disappeared. On the other hand, the 
h)Apothesis that the occupiers of the fort carved these 
designs on the rough and unprepared splinters of stone 
in the precise manner they now come before us, seems to 
me to involve premeditated deception, for it is difficult to 
believe that such uncompleted designs could have any 
other finality of purpose. 

Looking at these geometrical figures from the point of 
technique, they do not make a favourable impression in 
support of their genuineness. The so-called cup-marks 
consist of punctures of two or three different sizes, so many 
corresponding to one size and so many to another. The 
stiffness of the lines and circles reminds one more of 
ruler and compass than of the freehand work of pre- 
historic artists. The patterns are unprecedented for 
their strange combinations of art elements. For ex- 
ample. No. 9, Plate XVI., looks as if it were a design 
for some modern machinery. The main ornament on 
another fragment of sandstone (No. 12), consisting of a 
cross and circle composed of a series of cup-marks, 
seems to be a completed design ; but yet at the corner 
there are lines which are absolutely meaningless, unless 
we suppose that they formed part of a more enlarged 
tablet. Similar remarks apply to Nos. 3 and 8. 

(5) The carved figurines, *' idols" or "totems," six in 
number, showing more or less of the human form divine, 
are all, with the exception of the limpet shell, made of 
the common shale of the locality, four being from Dum- 
buck and one from Langbank (Plate XIL). The illustra- 



PLATE XVI 




MARKED STONES AND BONES FROM DUNBUIE 



NOS. I TO 12 = COARSE SPLINTERS OF SANDSTONE FROM 2 TO SJ INCHES IN I.FINGTH ; 
13 AND 14 = MARKED BONES ; AND 15 TO 18 ^ ORNAMENTED WORKED STONES (i) 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



231 



tions (Figs. 50-4) will give some idea of their grotesque 
appearance, but it is unnecessary to describe them more 
than to say that they are unlike anything in any collec- 
tion in the British Isles, or 
elsewhere. Attention has been 
directed to the art displayed 
by these strange objects, Mr. 
Andrew Lang recognising in 
them the work of "the early 
Glasgow school." On this 
point I offer no opinion, as I 
know nothing, not even of the 
existence of such a school ; 
but I should say that they 
disclose the hand of one not 
altogether ignorant of art. 
The evidence on which Mr. 
Lang makes the above sug- 
gestion is, however, worth 
looking into, more especially 
as it is capable and worthy of 
being discussed on archaeo- 
logical grounds. Mr. Lang's 
theory of the origin of the art 
of the Clyde idolaters was 
first published in Longman's 
Magazine for January, 1902, 
from which the following is 
an extract : — 




Fig. 50. Grotesque Figure of 
Shale from Dumbuck (x) 

From Drawing by W. A. Donnelly 



" Personally speaking, I be- 
lieve that the anomalous finds in 
the Clyde are old and genuine, as old, perhaps, in character as 
400 A.D., and surviving on till one knows not how late. . . . 
In these queer things I recognise the early Glasgow school at 
work. There are much more advanced desigfns on bits of shale 



232 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 




found, I think, in the Isle of Bute. Here we see drawn a beast 
which may be a seal or may be a staghound, but is perhaps quite 
as like the lizard in Alice in Wonderland. A recognisable dog" 
is pursuing a recognisable deer. But these designs are accom- 
panied by alphabetic writing and familiar Celtic ornament." 

The archaeological discoveries in the Isle of Bute, on 
which Mr. Lang founds his hypothesis, are 
briefly as follows : A few years ago, in the 
course of excavations made inside the old 
encircling wall of the ruined church of St. 
Blane, foundations of some ancient dwellings 
were exposed, and from their debris the 
objects in question were disinterred. In 
drawing Mr. Lang's attention to these objects 
when showing him the Dumbuck relics in 
the National Museum, it never dawned on 
me that his searching glances had detected 
any art elements common to them and the 
" queer things " of the Clyde sites. 

The assortment of objects collected among 
the debris of the inhabited sites at St. Blane's 
church consists of a number of quartzite 
hammer-stones, a few whetstones (one neatly 
perforated for suspension), polishers, a whorl 
of steatite, portion of a mould of sandstone, 
part of a jet armlet, rings of shale (both 
finished and unfinished), together with some 
dozen fragments of shale showing traces 
of workmanship. One splinter had a small 
cross on one side, and the letters "DA" on 
Of slate fragments there were several. One 
surfaces ornamented with rudely scratched 
scrolls and a few alphabetic letters in old Irish script 
(see Dr. Joseph Anderson's description of them).^ Two 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiv. p. 307. 




Fig. 51. Figure 

OF Shale froji 

Dumbuck (!) 

From Drawing by 
W. A. Donnelly 

the other, 
had both 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 




other portions had patterns of Celtic knot-work, and three 
incised outhnes of animals representing 
a stag-hunt. There were also found 
some fragments of glazed pottery, of 
two small crucibles, and of the horns 
of the red-deer and the roe. Through 
the kindness of the Council of the 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, I 
am enabled to give a few illustrations 
(Figs. 55-9) of the kind of art exhibited 
on these fragments of shale and slate 
to which Mr. Lang has appealed. By a 
comparison of these with the illustra- 
tions of the productions of the " Cran- 
nog" artists, readers have an opportunity 
of judging as to the resemblances and Fig. 52. Shale Figure 

i.^P , , . - FROM DOMBUCK (1) 

dinerences between the two series of „ ^ . , 

t rom Drawing by 
objects. '^^ ^- Donnelly 

As to the nature and chronological horizon of these 
Bute objects there can be no doubt. Not only were they 
associated with the ruins of an 
early Christian church, said to be 
of "Norman work," but all the 
designs belong to a class of art 
which is characteristic of early 
Christian times in Scotland. They 
are, however, so inferior, from the 
artistic point of view, that they 
can only be regarded as degraded 
survivals from the most flourishing 
period of that art. In support of 
this view it may be stated that five 
portions of crosses adorned with 
the familiar designs of the early Christian artists — men 
and animals sculptured in relief, interlacements, fretwork, 




Fig. 53. Shale Object from 

DUMBUCK ih) 



234 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



etc. — were discovered in a portion of the wall of the church 
which had to be taken down before it could be properly- 
restored ; thus showing that, by this time, the sculptured 
crosses had already lost much of their former sacred 
character. Some years ago it was discovered that large 
and small fragments of similarly sculptured crosses had 
been built into the foundations of the tower of the 
Cathedral of St. Andrews, proving that before the middle 

of the twelfth century their 
symbolism no longer appealed 
to Christian sentiment. 

In the decaying stage of 
this art, and long after it 
ceased to be a ruling element 
in church architecture and 
Christian monuments, inter- 
laced patterns and fretwork 
continued to be ornaments on 
reliquaries, croziers, brooches, 
powder-horns, dirk-handles, 
etc., up to comparatively re- 
cent times. Even supposing 
there had been a church on 
the St. Blane site previous to 
the oldest ruins still extant, all the relics of the artists who 
scribbled rude figures on pieces of slate and shale would 
be well within the Christian period in that part of Scot- 
land. But what, in the name of common sense, have they 
to do with the "queer things" of the Clyde? — as not a 
single object in the former collection has the least resem- 
blance to any of the latter — the only thing they have in 
common is the slate or shale of which they were manu- 
factured. 

From collateral considerations this discordance between 
the products of the Bute and Clyde artists is greatly 




Fig. 54. Limpet Shell with 
Human Face 

From Drawing by W. A. Donnelly 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



235 



strengthened. The art elements of the former have a 
history, and can be traced throughout Europe. From the 
time that Late Celtic art took shape in this country, and 
became amalgamated with interlacements and other art 
elements from Eastern sources, every step in the develop- 
ment of the Christian Celtic school in Scotland can be 
traced as clearly as if they had been laid down on a 
genealogical chart. But as to the origin of the Clyde 
" grotesques," and whether they are to be looked upon as 
gods or demons, totems or amulets, things to be admired 




Fig. 55. SplixNTEr of Shale with an Incised Cross on one side 
and on the other the letters "da" 

From St. Blane's, Bute 

or ridiculed, we are absolutely in the dark. Nor does 
archseology or history enable us to move one step for- 
wards or backwards in search of their prototypes. For 
my own part, I can see no trace of either Christian or 
Celtic art in any of them. 

It will be remembered that Dr. David Murray made a 
statement at a meeting of the Glasgow Archaeological 
Society (19th January, 1889) to the effect that shale 
objects similar to those from Dumbuck had been found 
elsewhere in the Clyde valley, and that they proved the 
genuineness of the former (see page 162). Later on, in 
a communication to the Glasgow Herald (March 22nd and 
29th, 1899) he gave a description of the Dumbuck dis- 
coveries under several headings — history, structure, object 



236 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



o 



a'^i' 



|T)ni 






of striLcture, the finds, the cause, other Clyde finds, result 
of evidence, and finally, the disputed objects. Under the 
heading " Other Clyde Finds " he writes as follows : — 

"Various other objects have from time to time been found 
in the Clyde and in the Clyde drift which throw light upon those 
found at Dumbuck. At a meeting of the Archaeological Society 
of Glasgow in 1895 I described a number of perforated stones 
found in the bed of the river, near 
I Rutherglen Bridge. These, I have no 
I doubt, were net or line sinkers, but I 
incline to think that they were com- 
paratively modern. Similar stones of 
undoubtedly ancient date have, how- 
ever, likewise been found. 

"When the excavation of Windmill 
croft was being carried on for the 
construction of Kingston Dock, Mr. 
James Bennie found in the river drift, 
at a depth of about fifteen feet from 
the surface— (i) a circlet of splint coal 
(weighing about 6|^ ozs.), 3^ ins. in 
diameter, with perforation of i^- in. ; 
(2) a circlet of bituminous shale 
(weight i6| ozs.), 5! ins. in diameter, 
with perforation ih ins. ; (3) an oblong 
square of bituminous shale, weighing 
14 ozs., with perforation 2 ins. ; (4) an 
oblong perforated pebble, weighing 
14I ozs. ; (5) a circlet of iron, neatly 
made by an adept in handling metals, if ins. in diameter, with 
perforation of \\n., and weighing 8 ozs. ; (6) a pebble, weighing 
8 ozs., with groove all round it ; (7) an oblong block of sand- 
stone, weighing 58 lbs., ground all round, apparently an anchor 
stone ; (8) several pieces of wood, not unlike a boy's bat, similar 
to the short paddles found with some of the Irish canoes, and 
a piece of bent wood like the letter S ; (9) a perforated stone 
sinker, weighing 22 ozs. A stone celt was also found during 
the excavations." 




Fig. 56. Piece of Slate 

WITH Incised Letters 

AND Scrolls {\) 

From St. Blane's, Bute 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



237 



The rest of Dr. Murray's list of recorded finds I must 
give in abstract. They include two sinkers, in the bed of 
the Clyde at Westhorn ; a circular stone, 4I inches in 
diameter, with a groove round the edge, in a deposit 
of sand near the Clyde at Belvidere ; two querns, at the 
foot of Jamaica Street ; at Cuningar a vase, 16 feet beneath 
the surface and 150 feet from the margin of the Clyde ; 
a stone celt, in the bed of the river at Rutherglen Bridge; 




Fig. 57. Piece of Slate with Incised Ornament (J) 

From St. Blane's, Bute 

another and a flint arrow-head, in the excavations for the 
Queen's Dock ; a bronze socketed celt, at York Street 
Ferry ; a denarius of Constantine II. and other coins, 
medals, etc., in the channel of the Clyde near Govan ; a 
Roman coin, at Bridge Street, 25 feet below the surface ; 
a Roman bowl of Samian ware, in Glasgow Green ; a 
small urn, when digging the foundations of a building at 



238 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Springfield Quay ; a cranium of Bos primigeniiis and a 
horn of the reindeer, in the alluvium of the Clyde near 
the junction of the Kelvin, etc. 

This, then, completes the evidence which, according to 
Dr. Murray, proves the genuineness of the idols, amulets, 
totems, or whatever else they may be called, of Dunbuie 
and Dumbuck.^ Now the only objects in this hetero- 
geneous collection from all ages which can possibly be 
compared with the shale ornaments of the Clyde stations 
are the three perforated pieces of shale found in the ex- 
cavations connected with the Kingston Dock, But these 




Fig. 58. Piece of Slate with Incised Animal (4) 

From St. Blane's, Bute 



dock relics have no incised designs, no cup-and-ring 
markings, no bearded idols with gaping mouths, no 
comic faces, no "blue points "with "drilled holes" and 
recent scratches, nor any other ornamented shells. The 
short wooden paddles may be too old to be comparable to 
the advanced navigation of the people of Dumbuck, as 
shown by the representation of a row-boat, with three 
oarsmen, which looks like that of a man-of-war with 
trained marines. 

Moreover, the presence of pieces of worked shale in 
the form of rings, bracelets, discs, perforated portions, 

^ Lang'bank was not then discovered. 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



239 



etc., has been noted in nearly all the Scottish crannogs 
hitherto investigated. Indeed, the industry in the manu- 
facture of various objects of shale, jet, and cannel coal 
goes back to the Neolithic period, and comes down to 
late mediaeval times. Circular rings and discs of cannel 
coal have been turned up in digging modern graves, as, 
for example, in the parish churchyard of Portpatrick, 



Wigtownshire 



Here it has been recorded that in one 
grave were seventeen discs and four broken rings ; in 
another, sixteen discs and three broken rings. Professor 
Duns, D.D., in combating the idea that these discs and 




Fig. 59. Piece of Slate with Stag Hunt (i) 

From St. Blane's, Bute 



rings were merely variants of the obolus — a tradition to 
that effect being current in the district — writes that 
" having been found only in some graves seems to indi- 
cate that the casting, both of rudely formed discs and 
broken rings, into these graves was intended to indicate 
that they are the graves of a class of persons who were 
characterised by some moral or social peculiarities."^ 
The slate and shale fragments at St. Blane, some of 

^ Proc, S. A. Scot., xxviii. p. 127. 



240 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

which were perforated, can hardly be dated to any period 
prior to the twelfth century. 

One of the more recent solutions of the Clyde puzzle 
which has come under my notice is thus described and 
refuted by Mr. Lang in one of his numerous letters to 
the local press : — 

"I am informed that the rude masks, or grotesque faces, 
have lately been attributed to the soldiers of the Roman occupa- 
tion, Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do, and 
for all that I know he may have found this ' ploy ' for the 
Roman Tommy Atkins. . . . Unless we have evidence that any 
of the races enlisted under the Roman eagles actually did carve 
stone grotesque faces like those of the Clyde pile-structures, 
and of those soldiers we have abundant relics, it is oddly 
audacious to attribute them to the soldiers of Rome. Have 
any unmistakable Roman objects been found in or near the sites 
of the pile-structures ? I think not ; and if this be so, if nothing 
like the grotesques is found on Roman sites from the Great 
Wall to the Clyde, and if no Roman objects are found near the 
pile-structures, the Roman-soldier theory may be mag"nificent, 
but it certainly is not science." 

With what charming ease and logical conviction does 
Mr. Lang, in these few touches, demolish the Roman- 
soldier theory ! Well, now, suppose we apply his logic 
to all the other Scottish periods, we can, with equal 
certainty, and on the very same grounds, show that the 
Clyde " grotesques " do not belong to any of them, either 
to the Stone, Bronze, Iron, Celtic, Late Celtic, Romano- 
British, Saxon, Mediaeval, or, indeed, to any other period 
or style of art within the British Isles. May we, there- 
fore, henceforth claim the support of Mr. Lang in regard- 
ing the disputed objects of the Clyde valley as altogether 
outside the pale of antiquarian relics, or, at any rate, as 
having no locus standi among the remains of any " known 
phase of Scottish civilisation"? 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 241 

THE SURVIVAL THEORY : SYMBOLISM 

Over and above the brief synopsis of the principles, 
methods, and object of the science of prehistoric archaeo- 
logy, discussed in the Prolegomena, there are two cog- 
nate fields of research which now call for a few remarks. 
These are, first, old traditions still surviving among modern 
civilised peoples ; and, secondly, beliefs, customs, and 
habits prevalent among modern savage races. Some 
antiquaries look upon the former as an infallible medium 
for carrying down the stream of time more or less valu- 
able germs of the social conditions which obtained before 
the development of modern civilisation. Others, again, 
regard the latter as furnishing a living picture of the past 
stratum of culture through which the present civilised 
inhabitants of the globe must have passed, at some time, 
in their upward march. The arch^ological results derived 
from both these standpoints are, in my opinion, greatly 
overrated, at least in so far as they are supposed to eluci- 
date the pre- and proto-historic culture remains of Europe. 

The more urgent reason for introducing folk-lore as 
part of the subject-matter of this volume arises from the 
persistent and vigorous efforts which have been made in 
current literature to explain the meaning and symbolism 
of the "queer things" of the Clyde by the totems and 
other objects used in the ritual ceremonies, magical 
or religious, of savage races. "If genuine," writes Mr. 
Lang, "the marked stones of Dumbuck and Dunbuie 
indicate the survival into a relatively cultured age of a 
singularly archaic set of ritual and magical ideas. "^ To 
this I replied "that it was not a question of survivalism 
at all, for we had no evidence that a civilisation, having 
such an outward symbolism, ever existed within the British 
Isles. . It was rather a case of spontaneous generation, 

^ Proc. S. A. Scot., vol. xxxiv. p. 459. 
R 



242 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

the sudden intrusion on the archaeological horizon of a 
group of fantastic objects without any recognisable pedi- 
gree."^ Both these statements are, however, of little 
value, as they merely give expression to our respective 
opinions. But let us inquire what has scientific archceo- 
logy to say on this vital point in the Clyde controversy. 

To show how quickly tradition loses sight of the true 
meaning of an object once in common use, but sub- 
sequently superseded, we have only to cast a superficial 
glance at the popular ideas in vogue, at no distant date, 
among the civilised people of Europe, with regard to 
some of our ordinary prehistoric antiquities. Having 
occasion some time ago to deal with this subject, I ex- 
pressed my views as follows : — 

"The Greeks and Romans took particular notice of the 
polished stone hatchets which were then, as now, occasionally 
picked up in the fields and other odd places. Unable to account 
for their production on any other hypothesis, they regarded 
them as thunderbolts {Ceraunia), and professed to find them 
wherever lightning was seen to strike the earth ; hence they 
came to be used as charms and talismans, to which extra- 
ordinary virtues were attributed. Some variant of the popular 
belief, so long prevalent in this country, that flint arrow-heads 
were the missiles of elves or fairies, was widely spread through- 
out the world. Equally persistent and widespread was the idea 
that these stone objects were possessed of the property of heal- 
ing diseases and averting threatened calamities, such as the 
evil-eye and other imaginary ills. Dr. Bellucci, of Perugia, in 
his well-known Catalogue of Italian Amulets, has tabulated, 
under the heading oi Pierres defoudre, twenty arrow-heads and 
thirty stone axes which had been used as charms throughout 
the country. Among the curiosities imported into Europe, 
after the geographical discoveries of the fifteenth century had 
opened up the New World to research, were stone implements, 
such as axes, chisels, arrow-points, knives, etc., found actually 

^ Proc. S. A. London, June 13th, 1901. 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 243 

in use among" various primitive people. This was the first clue 
to the true function of the so-called Cermmia and Pierres de 
foudre of the ancients. In 1723 we find Jussieu sugg-estingf at 
the Academic des Sciences that the Pierres de foiidre were the 
implements of a savag^e people who lived in Europe in earlier 
times. But it remained for the new-born science of anthro- 
pology to give the coup de grace to this kind of superstition."^ 

From the above remarks it will be seen that these 
erroneous ideas with regard to the function of stone im- 
plements and weapons had sprung up and become stereo- 
typed in the folk-lore and traditions of European nations 
within the comparatively short time represented by the 
interval between the Stone Age and proto-historic times, 
during which also their real use had been completely 
forgotten. Thus, in spite of folk-lore and traditions, the 
recollection of the use of stone axes, implements which 
were universally in common use up to the Bronze Age, 
had died out. Not only so, but another meaning or pur- 
pose was assigned to them, which has survived to almost 
the present day. Thus tradition has not only transmitted, 
but created, false evidence. 

Of more importance is the human element which pre- 
serves certain usages and customs long after tradition 
has lost sight of their real origin, such as we find in 
the continued use of stone weapons, in the performance 
of religious ceremonies, into the metallic period. For 
example, in the Egyptian process of embalming the 
first incision on the body was made with a knife of 
Ethiopian stone, no doubt flint, as many such imple- 
ments, supposed to have been used for this purpose, 
have been found in the tombs and elsewhere throughout 
the country. The Jewish people used stone knives for 
performing the ceremony of circumcision ; and also the 
priests of Baal when, as on occasions of high festival, 

^ Prehistoric Problems, p. 31. 



244 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

they hacked their persons in order to ingratiate them- 
selves with their god. It is reported to have been a flint 
knife which Hannibal used when he sacrificed a lamb 
before he gave battle to Scipio on the banks of the 
Ticino. Underlying this religious conservatism was the 
fact that these weapons were survivals of an age when 
metals were unknown. Such survivals are common 
enough among the remains found on inhabited sites in 
Scotland. Among the relics from the Lochlee crannog 
are a polished stone axe (found close to an iron knife), a 
well-made horseshoe-shaped scraper of flint, and two 
portions of reindeer horns — identified as such by the late 
Professor G. Rolleston, of Oxford. Yet there can be 
no doubt whatever that this crannog was constructed and 
occupied in the Iron Age, as among the other relics 
found on it were iron hatchets, chisels, gouges, and 
a cross-cut saw. Also the woodwork down to the lowest 
logs bore unmistakable evidence of having been manipu- 
lated by such metallic tools. And as to the reindeer, its 
survival in the North of Scotland to about the twelfth 
century is fairly well authenticated. ^ Two stone axes 
were found on the Hyndford crannog associated with a 
number of other relics of the Romano-British period." A 
bronze fibula of a late La Tene type, and a small 
polished stone axe, were disinterred from the debris of 
a hill-fort on Castle Law hill, near Abernethy.^ In exca- 
vating Roman camps also similar instances of the survival 
of culture-objects from previous ages are not unfrequently 
met with. 

On the supposition that the Clyde "grotesques" are 
genuine relics of the people of the period to which the 
structures in question must be referred, it would be to the 
survival theory that one would naturally look for an 

^ See Lake-d-wellings of Europe, p. 4S8. 

^ Prehistoric Scotland, p. 418. ■* Ibid., p. 372. 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 245 

explanation of their presence. In that case we ought 
to jfiind, at least somewhere in Britain, decided and un- 
disputed evidence of the existence of a phase of culture 
in the Stone Age in which the prototypes of the im- 
plements, weapons, amulets, idols, etc., of the Clyde 
"crannogs" and fort would be the prevailing forms then 
in general use. But of such archaic remains there is not 
a vestige, and consequently the hypothesis remains un- 
supported by any archseological data. 

As to the scientific value of studying the manners and 
customs of modern savages, much could be said. Perhaps 
the most striking evidence that might be adduced on the 
affirmative side is the fact just mentioned, viz. that the 
superstitious ideas associated with the so-called Ceraimia 
and Pierres de foudre were first exploded by seeing how 
the American savages made use of similar objects. So 
long as ethnological comparisons are restricted to 
weapons, tools, and the appliances used in pastoral and 
agricultural operations, which are common elements of 
humanity from very early times, some valuable and in- 
teresting results may be obtained. When, however, 
folk-lorists attempt to illustrate the social and religious 
condition of prehistoric Europe by a parallelism between 
its antiquities and objects used in the religious or magic 
rites of modern savages, their labours appear to me to be 
futile. The very weakest side of this problem is exposed 
by the attempt to correlate the "sacred things " of the 
Arunta tribe, in Central Australia, with the disputed 
objects of the Clyde. To maintain that the latter (even 
supposing them to be genuine) are analogous to the 
former, or that they can have the same meaning and 
function, in face of the following extract from the recent 
work of Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, seems to me to be 
an exceptionally weak argument. 

" We now come to deal with the patterns on the Churinga, 
all of which have a definite meaning' attached to them, though 



246 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

to decipher each individual one it is essential to gain the infor- 
mation from a man of the totem to which it belongs. Other 
natives may volunteer information, but as the same device will 
mean one thing to a native of one totem, and quite another 
thing to a man who belongs to another totem, and as a man's 
knowledge is strictly confined to the designs of his own totem, 
it is quite unsafe to ask, say, an emu man to describe to you 
the markings on a wild cat Churinga, or vice versa. 

"The whole design consists, with few exceptions, of a 
conventional arrangement of circular, semi-circular, spiral, 
curved, and straight lines together often with dots. The most 
frequent design met with is that of a series of concentric circles 
or a close-set spiral, the sets of circles or the spirals varying in 
number from two or three to as many as twenty, or even more ; 
and these, when present, usually indicate the most important 
object which it is intended to represent in the whole design." ^ 

If, then, as above stated, the ornamentation on these 
Arunta " totems " and ''Churinga" have not the same 
meaning as their analogues among the other tribes in 
Australia, what possible use can it be to compare them with 
the disputed objects from the Clyde district, which resemble 
them neither in shape nor ornamentation. Notwithstand- 
ing Mr. Lang's assertion that they are "in absolutely 
startling agreement," and the publication of an illustra- 
tion (Plate XVII.) purporting to be that of a "Churinga" 
from Dunbuie,- 1 unhesitatingly maintain that there is no 
parallelism whatever between the two sets of objects. In 
order that there can be no mistake on this point I have 
here reproduced the figures of two "Churinga," pub- 
lished by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen (Figs. 60, 61), 
and one in the National Museum, Edinburgh (Fig. 62), 
from which it will be seen that spirals, concentric circles, 

1 The Native Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 144-5. 

"^ Journal of British ArchcBological Association, September, 1901, Fig. 4. 
Where the original of this figure is to be seen I do not know, as no object 
having the slightest resemblance to it is among the objects in the collection 
from Dunbuie in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh. 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



247 



and semicircles, are the chief decorative elements made 
use of. On the other hand, neither the amulets — the 
only objects among the Clyde Art Gallery which can be 
compared to the Australian Churinga — nor any other 
object in that collection have spirals or concentric circles 






Figs. 60, 61. Churinga of the Arunta Tribe, Central Australia 

as component elements of their ornamentation. In a 
few instances there are incomplete circles round some 
of the perforations and so-called cup-marks ; but the 
main decorations consist of plain, hollow dots, or cups, 
and cup-and-ring marks connected by gutter channels. 
The Clyde amulets are neither strictly oval, nor sym- 
metrical, nor well finished, being generally water-worn 



248 ARCHAEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

fragments of shale or of clay state, of different shapes, 
as shown on figure 63. 

But waiving the question of the similarity of the 
Australian and Clyde objects, a careful study of the fol- 
lowing hypothesis will show the inherent futility of 
attempting to correlate the art products of any race 




Fig. 62. Churinga of Slate from the Arunta Tribe, 
Central Australia (|) 



of people in the early Iron Age, either in the Clyde or 
any other district in the British Isles, with those of the 
primitive races of Australia. The only possible way of 
accounting for the existence among them of common art 
or religious elements would be to trace them through 
prehistoric sources, reasoning somewhat as follows : — 

(i) At a time prior to the rise of modern civilisation 
the inhabitants of the Old World were savages. 

(2) From this archaic stratum of humanity some tribes 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 



249 



found their way to the West of Scotland, and others to 
Australia. 

(3) Their divergence from the common stock took place 
before the rise of the civilisations of the Greeks, Egyptians, 
and Babylonians, that is, at least 5000 B.C. 

(4) The immigrants to the Clyde became gradually 
more civilised while still retaining 
reminiscences of their primitive 
cult. 

(5) At a time subsequent to 
400 A.D.,1 long after the Neolithic 
period came to a close, their de- 
scendants became the occupiers of 
a hill-fort and two small submarine 
stations in the estuary of the Clyde. 
Here they revived their ancestral 
worship, the ritualistic emblems of 
which consisted of the grotesque 
figures, amulets, pendants, weap- 
ons, and ornaments which lately 
came to light through the Clyde 
excavations. 

(6) It follows also that during 
all these years the Arunta people 
underwent little or no change in 




Fig. 63. 
Water- WORN Claystone 

ORNAMENTED WITH PiTS 

AND Two Perforations, 
FROM Dunbuie (l) 



their culture ; and that at the pre- 
sent time it must be much the same 
as that which formed the primary basis of European 
modern civilisation. 

All these propositions must be accepted as gospel 
before the Australian " sacred things " can be admitted to 
have anything to do with the solution of the Clyde 
mystery. One thing which tells against that theory is, 
that neither prior, nor subsequent, to this religious mani- 

^ See Longman's Magazine for January, 1902. 



250 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

festation of ancestral worship on the banks of the Clyde 
has there been a single object found within the United 
Kingdom which has any resemblance to the relics of the 
Clyde idolaters. Nor am I singular in taking this view, 
as will be seen from the following quotation taken from 
Professor Sayce's recent book : — 

"To explain the religious beliefs and usages of the Greeks 
and Romans from the rehgious ideas and customs of Australians 
or Hottentots is in most cases but labour in vain ; and to seek 
the origin of Semitic religion in the habits and superstitions of 
low-caste Beddwin is like looking to the gipsies for an explana- 
tion of European Christianity. Such a procedure is the abuse, 
not the use, of the anthropological method. Folk-lore gives us 
a key to the mind of the child, and of the child-like portion of 
society ; it sheds no light on the beginnings either of religion 
or of civilisation, and to make it do so is to mistake a will-o'-the- 
wisp for a beacon of light. "^ 

I will not venture further into a department in which 
I am but a novice, and one of my opponents a dis- 
tinguished authority, more than to repeat that the argu- 
ments hitherto advanced in support of an analogy 
between the "queer things" of the Clyde and the 
religious, magical, or fetish objects to be found among 
savage tribes of to-day are to my mind singularly un- 
satisfactory, if not irrelevant. Nor do I think that any 
fruitful result will follow from pursuing that particular 
line of inquiry. 

Hitherto no use has been made of the correspon- 
dence which passed between Mr. Andrew Lang and my- 
self in the columns of the Glasgow Herald during the 
month of January, 1899 (loth, 14th, 17th, 23rd, and 27th), 
with regard to the Dumbuck shale objects, with "archaic 
patterns," and the "totems" and "Churinga" of the 

^ A. H. Sayce, The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, p. 18. 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 251 

Arunta tribe in Australia, simply because the dispute was 
without any fruitful result. After what was then said, 
I am rather surprised to find Mr. Lang, at this time of 
day, recurring to the subject on the old lines in a letter 
of October 13th, 1903, to the same journal. I am not, 
however, surprised at his second, which followed a week 
later (October 19th), when he found out that he was 
mistaken in his supposed discovery of the missing link 
between the Dumbuck idolaters and the Arunta ma- 
gicians, as I have never for a moment doubted the bona 
fides of the eminent litterateur'' s arguments in this matter. 
How scaithless he appears after this escapade the letters 
bear evidence. Of the other letters which have appeared 
on the subject, that by "Sparkbrook" (October 27th) is 
worth being reproduced, because it admirably points the 
moral, the only archseological inference to be drawn from 
the correspondence. 

"A HIGHLAND MAGIC STONE. 

"Sir, — When disks of shale or other mineral substance, 
marked with the archaic patterns found on rocks all over the 
world, were first discovered in the Clyde, I suggested that they 
might be amulets or magical objects, like those now known in 
Central Australia, and on a French Palaeolithic site. If the 
idea were accepted, it gave no indication of date. The patterns 
are still scrawled on the thresholds of Galloway cottages, and 
stone disks, or plaques, without the patterns, are still cherished 
in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. There was a missing link in 
my theory. We needed to find a genuine old Scottish magical 
stone, inscribed with one of the archaic patterns. Hitherto the 
Scottish magic stones known to me have been balls of crystal, 
or flint arrow-heads, or Neolithic celts in polished stone. Two 
examples of the last species are figured in Folk-Lore for Sep- 
tember (p. 298). They belonged to a * wise woman ' who died 
three years ago in Sutherland. They were called Saigheadan 
Shith. They bear no incised marks. Things very similar in 



252 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

form, the property of magicians in Sarawak, are figured in the 
Jourjial of the Anthropological Institute, January to June, 1903, 
page 80, Plate XVI. : 'The stones are immersed in water, and 
the water is rubbed on the patient's body as an universal 
remedy.' Magic stones are used in the same style in the 
Highlands, at least when cattle are the patients. In Australia 
the stone amulet itself is rubbed on the patient. None 
of these stones, except the Australian, are decorated with 
patterns. 

"Lately a Lowland friend showed me a Highland magic 
stone, bequeathed to him by his Highland grandfather. Deep 
into the nineteenth century it was used for healing cattle 
disease. Its abode is a curious old wooden box, oddly re- 
paired in two places with wattle, as if iron ought not to come 
near the sacred object. There is, however, one small iron tack 
in the box. The object itself is egg-shaped, of a close-grained 
dark stone, ground smooth. Each end of the %^^ has been 
ground nearly flat, but remains slightly convex. At the centre 
of each end is an incised ring, perhaps too exactly circular to 
be antique. But all round top and bottom, on the surface of 
the ends at their broadest, are faintly incised concentric rings, 
such as we commonly find on ' cup-and-ring ' rock surfaces 
everywhere. The three rings on the thickest end are obliterated 
in part of their circumference, the stone having been much 
handled for an unknown time. At the thinner end, which is 
polished, the rings are more conspicuous. They can never 
have been deeply, and are not exactly traced. The object looks 
to me as if it had been a Neolithic adze, later truncated at 
either extremity. I cannot imagine how the ring-marks came 
on the stone except by deliberate but unskilled incision, prob- 
ably not made with a point of metal. Thus the thing appears 
to be a Neolithic amulet, handed down for countless genera- 
tions, and, till quite recently, in regular use for magico-medical 
purposes. If so, it may supply the missing link in my argu- 
ment. At all events, it is a curious survival of very ancient 
practices. 

"I am, etc., 

"Andrew Lang." 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 253 

" I, Marloes Road, W. 
"Sir, — The Highland magic stone of which I wrote lately 

7vas a magic stone of the Mac s ; I dare not mention their 

name ! But before that it had been the pivot-stone of a gate. 
The concentric rings were caused by wear, as the upright stone 
turned in the stone socket. Other examples, one from Egypt, 

are in the British Museum. Probably the Mac s, when 

they invaded the Lowlands with Prince Charles, had never seen 
a gate, and, picking up a smooth, egg-shaped flint marked with 
rings — a pivot-stone — thought it 'great medicine,' carried it 
home, cherished it, and used it for magical purposes. It is a 
case of ' Bil Stumps His Mark.' The curious may consult 
Mr. Drummond's 'Vacation Notes. '^ 

" I am, etc., 

"A. Lang." 



"Sir, — Mr. Andrew Lang recently told your readers that he 
had found the missing link in the chain that was to bind to- 
gether the magic stones of the Aruntas and the discs, images, 
and ' blue points ' of the Clyde crannog man. A day or two 
later he wrote saying his missing link with cup and rings was a 
gate pivot-stone ; that the link was no link ; and that the 
Mac s on the maternal side were an ignorant lot. 

"But what about Mr. Andrew Lang? Did he know a 
charm-stone from a pivot-stone? Did he at once recognise the 
difference between genuine cups and rings and the markings 
made on a stone pivot through the turning in a socket ? By his 
own confession it would appear not ; and so, as far as a point 
of this kind is concerned, we are compelled to regard him as 

on the same level with the benighted Mac s who never saw 

a gate. Able and learned men sometimes go egregiously 
astray when they try to set the world right on things outside 
their beat. Mr. Andrew Lang's most recent contribution on 
Highland magic stones is a fine illustration of the old saying, 
' Ne sutor ultra crepidam.' 

" I am, etc., 

" Sparkbrook." 

^ Proc. of Soc. Scot. Ajit., vol. x. pp. 633-5, 1872-4. 



254 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE POSITION AND TECHNIQUE 
OF THE RELICS 

In looking at the general fades and technique of this 
remarkable collection, now exhibited in the National 
Museum as relics of the people who constructed and 
inhabited the hill-fort of Dunbuie and the two submarine 
sites in the Clyde estuary, there are a few general con- 
siderations which may be submitted as more or less 
probable inferences from the facts disclosed by the recent 
investigations. 

First. The disputed objects, though absolutely novel 
and unprecedented among the antiquities hitherto found 
on the Scottish area, present such a close family likeness 
that they must all be regarded as productions of one 
school of art, if not, indeed, of one artist. No one who 
carefully examines the technique of the objects can deny 
that this is true of the "idol" and "amulet" (Plate XII.) 
found at Langbank, and their analogues from Dumbuck ; 
and of the spear-heads of Dumbuck and Dunbuie (see 
Plate XIII.). There is also a striking similarity in the 
method of manufacturing the shaped objects from all the 
three stations. The pendants, amulets, and idols appear 
to have been water-worn pieces of shale or slate before 
they were perforated, decorated, and polished. Some 
of the oyster shells were also water-worn before being 
scratched and perforated ; while others showed no evi- 
dence of abrasion. That a coarse oyster shell, with a 
few circular holes and incised scratches, should be trea- 
sured by any human being living in Scotland in post- 
Roman times, either as a personal ornament, or as a 
medium for magical incantations, or as a religipus 
symbol, seems to me very improbable. But in face of 
Professor Boyd Dawkins' statement that some of these 
oyster shells are American "blue points," surely my 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 255 

opponents will be glad to drop the hypothesis. Further, 
the lines and deeply cut cup-marks and perforations have 
every appearance of having been made by metal tools — 
a fact which one would expect if they belong to the Iron 
Age. If this be so, the question arises as to what 
possible motive could anyone have in manufacturing 
spear-heads of soft slate or shale, and convertihg natural 
splinters of stone into the semblance of knives by insert- 
ing them into handles of horn or bone, when the inhabi- 
tants of these sites were provided with metal implements 
capable of cutting and boring great logs of wood. As 
long as it was contended that the Clyde sites belonged 
to the Neolithic period, there was some consistency in 
advocating the theory that the stone weapons and imple- 
ments were really manufactured for a special purpose 
and utilised in the ordinary affairs of life. Mr. Lang 
must have seen the force of this argument when he sug- 
gested that the spear-heads were not meant to be used as 
weapons, but as "sacred things." Stone spear-heads 
would not, however, become sacred in the Iron Age, 
without being associated with a tradition that they were 
correct types of the implements in actual use in the Stone 
Age, in the same way as the well-known flint embalming 
knives of Egypt are true survivals from archaic times 
when such tools were used in daily life. But nothing 
like these spear-heads and knives has hitherto been found 
in Scotland, so that they cannot be survivals from a 
previous state of things in our country. 

Secondly. From the position and circumstances in 
which some of the disputed objects are reported to have 
been found on the Dumbuck crannog, there is good evi- 
dence to show that their appearance among the debris 
was not earlier than the abandonment or final demolition 
•of the cairn. The workman who found the large spear- 
head showed me, in presence of Mr. Dalrymple Dun- 



256 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

can, now President of the Glasgow Archceological Society, 
the exact spot in which it lay. This was in the mud in- 
side one of the spaces between the steps of the ladder, 
which still remained in situ, and lying almost on a level 
with the log-pavement. It would appear that in the act 
of demolishing the cairn the ladder had been thrown 
down, and henceforth it became covered over with some 
of the stones and a few inches of mud. Now it seemed 
to me that this spear-head must have been put in the 
place where it was found after the ladder was thrown down, 
so that its age as a relic cannot be regarded as greater 
than that event. Mr. Lang questions this inference on 
the ground that the spear-head might have been there 
when the ladder fell. This would make little difference 
in my argument, because in that case it would have been 
absolutely on the surface and put there immediately prior 
to the fall of the ladder. The compartment measures 
twelve inches by ten inches, a space just sufficient to 
admit the spear-head, which is eleven inches in length. 
Is it not very remarkable that a workman groping with 
his hand in the mud should accidentally stumble on this 
relic — the only one found in this part of the site? Is it 
possible that he is an unconscious thought-reader, and 
was thus guided to make the discovery? And what a 
curious coincidence that in falling one of the open spaces 
of the ladder should so precisely correspond with the 
length of the spear-head ! At any rate, if this object 
could have been discovered and abstracted by the acci- 
dental groping of a man's hand in mud, it could have 
been as readily inserted there half an hour before. The 
" Ugrian " god or idol (Fig. 50) is reported to have been 
"from the Dumbuck crannog causeway," and must also 
be a recent importation, as these causeways were quite 
superficial. 

Again, some spear-heads, and the pebble ornamented 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 257 

with a boat and a human hand, were found in the canoe ; 
and hence their greatest provable antiquity would not 
go beyond the time when the canoe was abandoned — 
probably the same time that the cairn ceased to be occu- 
pied. 

Thus the age of a considerable number of the more 
remarkable relics must be assigned to a period which 
ranges between the time when the Dumbuck cairn be- 
came a useless obstruction in the Clyde estuary and its 
recent investigation. Judging from the superficiality of 
the rude causeway leading to a kind of canal a little to 
the west of the site, and from the ring-like arrangement 
of the stony debris which marked the site of the " cran- 
nog " before excavations were begun, the removal of the 
cairn must have been comparatively recent. Now, ac- 
cording to Dr. David Murray, there is documentary 
evidence to show that a Corporation cairn existed in this 
locality as late as 1758, and it is interesting to recall 
what he has written on this point. In the Glasgow Herald 
of March 22nd, 1899, he writes as follows : — 

" In considering- the object of the structure it is to be observed 
that if the Corporation lower cairn of 1758 did not occupy this 
very spot, it stood upon the same line and close to it. There 
are, however, no remains of such cairn. Starting-, therefore, 
with the fact that there was a cairn, the natural conclusion 
would be that the remains now discovered belong- to it. To 
support a cairn of the size required in such a situation and to 
prevent sinking- it is not unusual to provide a platform of wood 
resting- on piles. . . . The object of the Corporation cairn was 
no doubt to mark the limit of their jurisdiction, and also to serve 
as a beacon to vessels coming- up the river. For this purpose 
it would be placed near low-water mark and close to the edg-e of 
the shoal. Such a beacon may have been erected long- prior to 
1758, and may have been one of the works of 1556 or of 1612, 
when another attempt was made to form a passag-e throug-h the 
shoal. Beacons have often a pole in the middle rising- above 
s 



258 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

the stonework and surmounted by a cross. Such a pole carried 
down to the bottom would probably be sunk in the clay, which 
would produce a hole or well-like cavity similar to that in the 
formation of the Dumbuck structure." 

If Dr. Murray is right in surmising that the present 
Dumbuck structure is the foundation of the Corporation 
cairn, and I see nothing against the supposition, then the 
greatest chronological range that can be assigned to some 
of these marvellous relics, which have so much excited 
the curiosity of antiquaries, is limited to the last 150 
years. That they date from the time when the excava- 
tions were conducted is one way of solving the question. 
This is suggested by the manner in which the "idols," 
"amulets," etc., were found distributed throughout the 
debris — in the canoe, the central "well," at the bottom 
of the kitchen midden, on the surface of the causeway, 
and in the ladder compartment. It would appear as if 
they had been thrown away, or concealed, at all stages in 
the life-history of the habitation, i.e. during its construc- 
tion, occupation, and demolition. On the supposition 
that they had been used in the ritual of religion, or of 
magic, can any plausible reason be given why they should 
be so sporadically distributed? 

We have no knowledge of the precise position in which 
the " queer things " of Dunbuie were found, with the 
exception of the limpet shell showing the carved human 
face which, according to a recent statement in tho. Journal 
of the British ArchcBological Association, September, 1901, 

" was excavated from a crevice in the living- rock, over which 
tons of debris had rested. When taken out, the incrustations 
of dirt prevented any carving from being- seen ; it was only 
after being dried and cleaned that the ' face ' appeared, as 
well as the suspension holes on each side." 

So, this unique piece of art was in the fort before it 
became a ruin and otherwise presented evidence of great 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 259 

antiquity ; but yet it is stated in Mr. Millar's report that 
there was "nothing at all of an archaic character in this 
example of shell-carving." ^ Moreover, the date when 
the fort ceased to be occupied can hardly be as late as 
1758, the probable date of the demolition of the Dumbuck 
cairn, the only time the great spear-head, if genuine, 
could have been brought into the debris. Here, therefore, 
is a chronological discrepancy to be accounted for, if it be 
true that the "queer things" from all the Clyde stations 
emanated from one " school." The only period, so far as 
I can see, since these habitations came into existence, 
which afforded a probable opportunity for placing con- 
temporaneous objects on all the three sites would be 
when the recent excavations were in progress. 

Thirdly. We now come to a most interesting question, 
viz. What were the designs or motives the Clyde artists 
had before them when manufacturing and ornamenting 
their grotesque productions? For no one can suppose 
that the initiative for such a variety of forms and combina- 
tions of primitive art elements originated in pure imagina- 
tion. One thing certain is that they are the works of 
human hands, and the real question at issue is whether 
these hands belonged to ancient or modern artists. Mr. 
Lang could not entertain the possibility of their being 
forgeries on the ground of their similarity to certain 
"sacred things" of the Arunta tribe in Australia. 
"That a forger," he writes, "presumably ignorant of 
the recently ascertained Australian facts, was unlikely to 
counterfeit objects of which he could scarcely have heard. 
He would have forged familiar, not unknown objects.'''' 
Now, strange as it may appear, it \sih.e familiar, and not 
the unknown, that the Clyde artists have imitated ; for on 
looking at these Australian " sacred things " I can see no 
resemblance whatever between any of them and the Clyde 

1 See page 133. 



26o ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

disputed objects. Where, then, are the familiar designs 
which served as models to the Clyde artists to be found? 
They are not far to seek, for one has only to scamper 
over the neighbouring hills to find a profusion of primi- 
tive rock-sculpturing showing designs analogous to those 
on the disputed objects — plain cups, cup-and-rings, with 
or without gutter-channels, spirals, circles, concentric 
circles, semicircles, horseshoe and harp-shaped figures, 
etc. The most striking novelty in the ornamental designs 
to be seen on the Clyde objects is the cup-and-ring with 
diverging lines forming sun-like figures — such as are to 
be seen on the great spear-head from Dumbuck (Plate 
XIIL, No. 12). Indeed, there is not a single design on 
any of the Clyde disputed objects (exclusive of the gro- 
tesque figures) which cannot be matched, or easily 
suggested, by the primitive rock-sculpturing at Auchen- 
torlie, situated only a short distance from Dunbuie and 
Dumbuck. When the Clyde cairns and the Dunbuie 
fort were in occupation these rock-carvings were there, 
and they could have been copied at that time as well as 
now ; but had this been done on small objects of slate 
and shale they would have been, even then, as much 
out of place as surviving remnants of the earlier Scottish 
civilisation as they are at the present day. In short, if 
the manufacturer of any of these "queer things" were 
one of the inhabitants of Dumbuck, he might have been 
characterised as a '* wag" or "forger," just on the same 
grounds as he is to-day. 

Fourthly. All the disputed objects are of such a simple 
character that they could be whittled in a few afternoons 
by anyone possessed of some practical artistic skill, and 
acquainted with the rock-carvings of the neighbourhood. 
But, in applying these local designs to small objects, 
such as unworked splinters of sandstone and pieces of 
water-worn shale and slate, their manufacturers had 



The disputed objects 261 

evidently not sufficient archaeological knowledge to realise 
the significance of the fact that they were doing what pre- 
historic man, in this country, is never known to have 
done before. To imitate in miniature cup-and-ring mark- 
ings, gutter channels et omne hoc genus, by punctured 
dots and incised scratchings involves, in my opinion, a 
misinterpretation of the primary meaning attached to 
cup-marks and other rock-sculpturing of prehistoric 
times. 

At the commencement of the Clyde controversy, when 
the Neolithic theory of Dumbuck "held the field," Mr. 
Lang appended the following postscript to one of his 
letters, which, perhaps, I may be allowed to resuscitate, 
along with my reply : — • 

" A forger anxious to forge a Neolithic' site would, of course, 
drop in a few Neolithic arrow-heads, 'celts,' and so forth. The 
fool of a forger at Dunbuie and Dumbuck neglected this 
elementary precaution ! " 

To this I replied as follows : — 

" It is not an uncommon thing to find the gist of a letter in 
the postscript ; but Mr. Lang has reserved for his a gem of the 
rarest quality. The joke of the matter is that ' the fool of a 
forger ' has proved his foolishness by neglecting to supply a 
single particle of the Neolithic material which alone could 
support the conclusions advocated by Mr. Lang and his friends ; 
and, since Dame Nature has not supplied this all-important 
defect, the claims of Dumbuck and Dunbuie to be regarded as 
Neolithic sites collapse." 

In the above words lie one of the greatest safeguards 
to the science of archaeology, for nothing could be easier 
than to detect modern imitations of Neolithic relics. 
But the objects under consideration are not of this kind, 
as they do not imitate any prehistoric antiquities found 
in this country, and hence I demurred to the appropriate- 
ness of the word forgery. To whittle on a piece of shale 



262 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

fantastic designs composed of incised lines, dots, and 
circles, and then to throw it into an old dirt heap, even 
supposing it were intended to allure another silly person 
to pick it up as a curiosity, is not forgery in the ordinary 
sense of the word, i.e. it would not be judged as a 
criminal act, as it is not infringing the patent rights of 
any person, nor defrauding anybody, nor imitating any 
known object of antiquity. Were, however, such objects 
sold as genuine antiquities the question of fraud and 
forgery might arise ; but the Clyde case is not compli- 
cated by any sordid motives of this kind. I do not, for a 
moment, doubt that the various finders of these objects 
picked them up here and there in the debris during the 
progress of the excavations ; but the question is. When 
were they put there ? That the disputed objects are 
amusing playthings — the sportive productions of idle 
wags who inhabited the various sites — seems to be the 
most recent opinion which finds acceptance among local 
antiquaries. But this view involves the contemporaneity 
of occupancy of the respective sites, of which there is no 
evidence ; or a still more improbable hypothesis that 
they are the productions of artists of different periods 
who indulged in this kind of waggery. 

Finally. The absence of any trace of motive, lucrative 
or otherwise, so far as I know, in connection with the 
Clyde discoveries has, undoubtedly, added to the difficulty 
of solving this mystery except by an appeal to comparative 
archceology. But however strong presumptive evidence 
may be, there will always be some, no doubt on con- 
scientious grounds, who refuse to be influenced by its 
indications. Hence the frequency with which arch^o- 
logical disputes resolve themselves into matters of opinion. 
In deadlock eventualities of this kind the invariable con- 
sequences are, that the disputed objects, some of which 
may be really valuable, have to be placed to a suspense 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 263 

account to await further developments. Such was the 
result of the Breonio controversy, and such has hitherto 
been the fate of the Clyde " grotesques," notwithstanding 
all our efforts to marshal the facts and arguments in the 
most telling manner. Readers should also remember that 
these Clyde finds came before us piecemeal fashion, and 
had to be dealt with from time to time in a fragmentary 
manner. No record appears to have been kept of the 
precise conditions under which the most remarkable ob- 
jects were discovered. The osseous remains found on the 
Dumbuck "crannog," though of primary importance in 
determining the age and duration of its occupancy, were 
practically ignored, as many months elapsed before a 
moiety of the bones were submitted to expert examina- 
tion, and then the most valuable of them, viz. the supposed 
horns of the fallow-deer, had disappeared altogether. Even 
the structural details of the various stations had to be 
culled from paragraphs in the local press and scrappy com- 
munications to a few archaeological societies. The official 
report on the excavations at Langbank, though read at the 
Glasgow Archaeological Society about two years ago, has 
not yet been published. To obviate these and other diffi- 
culties, as far as possible, I have at the outset placed 
before readers the main results gathered from the most 
reliable sources, as well as from my own observations, 
without, however, touching on t\\^ fama clamosa attached 
to some of the relics. Having done this, the questio vexaia 
is duly formulated and discussed on archaeological 
grounds alone. The method of procedure was first to 
prove that the structures and ordinary archaeological 
remains discovered on all the sites belonged to the early 
Iron Age, and not to the Neolithic Age as the investi- 
gators and others maintained. Having successfully ac- 
complished this task, two other questions, arising out of 
the final settlement of the first, had to be faced, viz. 



264 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

(i) What is, or can be, the meaning of these strange- 
looking objects which, for convenience of reference, are 
catalogued as "weapons," "implements," "ornaments," 
" amulets," and "idols"? and (2) How came they to be 
located on sites which were constructed and inhabited after 
the Roman occupation in Scotland came to an end, a time 
when tools and weapons of iron were in common use in 
Scotland? These questions were disposed of by showing 
that no rational answer to either has yet been propounded 
or offered. Hence these disputed objects, in face of the 
clearly defined chronological horizon of the structures and 
the few normal relics found on them, become virtually 
stranded as meaningless interlopers — a solitary group of 
artificial objects, of a sin generis character, but without 
a single link to connect them with any of the series of 
antiquities hitherto found within the Scottish area. Arch- 
aeology carries us no further, and beyond this our brief 
does not extend. Our task was to bring archaeology into 
court as a witness. The final verdict on their origin and 
purpose belongs to a different tribunal. 

Let us now see how the main question stands. I think 
we are entitled, as the result of the previous discussions 
and arguments, to disencumber our minds of the idea 
that the disputed objects belong to, or are survivals from, 
the Neolithic Age ; or that Neolithic civilisation has 
anything to do with the solution of the Clyde mystery. 
On the same grounds we claim to have established that 
the structures of Dunbuie, Dumbuck, and Langbank are 
the remains of inhabited sites of the early Iron Age, 
dating to some time between the fifth and twelfth 
centuries ; that their constructors were in possession of 
excellent metal tools, and, consequently that they had no 
occasion to manufacture knives or spear-heads of stone ; 
that the presence of these disputed objects among relics, 
whose types are well known in the Scottish archaeological 



THE DISPUTED OBJECTS 265 

area, is absolutely inexplicable by any light hitherto 
derived from the annals of Scottish history or archaeo- 
logy ; and lastly, that our critical review of the conditions 
under which they have come on the field of archaeology 
has elicited so many startling discrepancies in arch^o- 
logical matters already well founded in fact, that we are 
justified, on circumstantial evidence alone, in rejecting 
their claim to be regarded as relics of any phase of 
Scottish civilisation. 



CHAPTER VIII 
GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 

WE now come to the calm region of reflection, where 
our chief duty is the consideration of the practical 
lessons to be derived from the above narrative of 
a remarkable series of archaeological controversies founded 
partly on wilful imposture, and partly on false data or 
ignorance. The story will, indeed, be shorn of half its 
value and object if it does not form an immediate stimulus 
to the adoption of more precise and logical methods in 
the conduct of archceological researches than the vicarious 
treatment which has hitherto been accorded to this fas- 
cinating pursuit. On this phase of the subject we have 
to look for encouragement chiefly to the higher and nobler 
sentiments, which are engendered by the steady growth of 
scientific culture and its influence, in developing a desire 
for accurate information in all departments of knowledge. 
Among the more pressing philosophical problems of the 
day the marvellous career of the human race on the globe, 
as disclosed in the rise and progress of social, religious, 
and scientific institutions, holds the foremost place. Any 
suggestions which have a tendency to improve our 
methods of groping over this vast field of inquiry are 
second only to actual discoveries. 

For the purpose of strengthening the general observa- 
tions here submitted, as a plea for the need of improving 
our methods of conducting anthropological researches, a 
slight deviation from the general scope of this book is 

266 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 267 

made by introducing a few instructive incidents of false 
records, though by no means associated with any sus- 
picion of mala fides. It matters little what the primary 
cause of an error may be, whether emanating from ignor- 
ance, defective observations, or wilful misrepresentation ; 
for, when once it becomes incorporated with authoritative 
records, it entails the same vitiated consequences to future 
observers, often leading to personal wrangles and bad 
feeling. Everyone who has had anything to do with 
practical investigations knows how difficult it is to elicit 
from workmen the precise position of a relic in the 
debris, and its relationship to other objects. Possibly 
the workman took no special notice of the spot where 
the object lay, and the explorer, by the very persistence 
of his queries, may be the means of leading an un- 
skilled person to give a garbled account about a matter 
which seemed to his untutored mind a meaningless 
triviality. 

The nature of the subject-matter discussed in this 
volume has led us to wander far afield both in space and 
time. The controversial problems reviewed, in which 
some of the most distinguished archaeologists and anthro- 
pologists of our time were concerned, are numerous and 
varied, and cannot therefore fail to be instructive to a 
younger generation ; but yet comparatively few of the 
disputed matters were finally settled at the time of their 
occurrence. It would appear as if the mental processes 
requisite for forming a correct judgment on controverted 
materials are sometimes so influenced by preconceived 
ideas that judgment is unconsciously biassed. Nor is this 
feature exclusively confined to the tyro in scientific re- 
searches. The famous geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison, 
is reported to have been so obdurate in accepting the 
evidence of the erosive power of glaciers in the formation 
of rock-basins that it was only a few years before his 



268 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

death he gave a tardy acquiescence to this doctrine. In a 
letter to Sir William Denison (1864) he writes: ''In my 
anniversary address to the Geological Society you would 
see the pains I have taken to moderate the icemen, who 
would excavate all the rock-basins by glaciers eating their 
way into solid rocks. "^ Yet the glacial theory of the 
formation of rock-basins has for a long time been an 
accepted creed among most geologists. Evidence which 
may be clear and convincing to one mind may not have 
the same effect on another — a fact which should at least 
warn us to be tolerant in controversies which are founded 
on matters of opinion. 

While collecting materials for my Lake-dwellings of 
Europe^ I occasionally came across instances of impor- 
tant deductions which, for longer or shorter periods, were 
accepted as founded on undisputed evidence, but which 
afterwards turned out to be false. Erroneous data of this 
kind have been pointed out in Sir Charles Lyell's An- 
tiquity of Mem, which, occurring in the hands of such 
an authority, are worthy of being recorded as an instructive 
object-lesson of the effects of false data. 

In 1883, in the course of railway excavations in the 
valley of the Meuse, some wooden structures, described 
by Mr. Ubaghs - as a kind of crannog, were met with 
in the superficial alluvial deposits of clay. Among a 
number of relics of the Neolithic period was a portion 
of a human skull, to which more than ordinary interest 
was attached, as it was near the same spot where Professor 
Crahay found the celebrated human jaw known as the 
Smeermaas mcichoire. This relic was described by Sir 
Charles Lyell as coeval with a mammoth tusk found near 
the same place. The subsequent facts which came into 

^ Geikie's Memoirs of Sir R. Mnrchison, vol. ii. p. 318. 
'^ L' Age et I'homme prdhistoriques et ses tisie?isiles de la station lacustre pres 
de Maestricht. 1S84. 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 269 

collision with Lyell's statement are thus epitomised in 
Lake-divellm gs of Europe : — 

" The present skull was found eleven to thirteen feet below the 
surface, lying" upon the gfravel bed on which the wooden struc- 
tures reposed. From a careful comparison of it with the ' Crahay 
jaw,' now in the cabinet of anatomy in the University of Leyden, 
Mr. Ubaghs found that the two relics were identical as to 
patina, consistency of bone, and the composition of the material 
in which they were embedded (traces of which still adhered 
to them), and he comes to the prosaic conclusion that the 
two belonged to the Maestricht crannog : ' Cette machoire, 
ainsi que les autres ossements de la meme provenance, ont 
appartenu i notre station lacustre pr^s de Maestricht.' 

" M, Kerkhoflfs ^ attacks Sir Charles Lyell for some palpable 
mistakes he has made regarding the relative positions of the 
Crahay jaw and the mammoth tusk. According to Sir Charles, 
the tusk was found ' six yards removed from the human jaw, in 
horizontal distance.' ^ M. Kerkhoffs gives the following quota- 
tion from Crahay's original notice of the discovery : ' Dans une 
pointe que forme le plateau de Kaberg, en s'avan^ant dans la 
plaine, pres de Smeermaas, on a rencontre dans la terre 
argileuse 4 6m5o au-dessous du sol, la machoire inferieure d'un 
homme garnie de ses dents, sans etre accompagnee d'aucun 
autre reste ; elle ne semblait pas avoir roule ; les ouvriers 
assurent que la terre n'y avait pas 6te remuee. L'os est tres 
fragile, mais n'a pas 6te dans cet etat de mollesse des ossements 
d'elephant ; aussi n'est-ce pas la meme couche de terre ; car 
au-dessous de cette machoire s'etendait une couche irreguliere 
de gravier et de cailloux de 2 k 3 metres d'epaisseur, au-dessous 
de laquelle etait placee une nouvelle couche argileuse dans 
laquelle on a trouve des restes d'elephants a 14 metres au- 
dessous du sol.' 

" From these remarks it would appear that Sir Charles Lyell's 
account of the position of the vidchoire is neither a fact nor in 
accordance with Professor Crahay's description of the conditions 
in which it was found, as the tusk is here described as having 
been over twenty-four feet deeper. 

1 Bui. Soc. Anth., 1874 and 1SS4. 
" Antiquity of Man, 4th ed. p. 421. 



270 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

Could science or romance furnish a more instructive 
incident to prove the absolute necessity of correctly 
recording the facts and relics brought to light by excava- 
tions ? The archaeological value of a discovery may be 
entirely annulled by the neglect of this essential duty. 
I have in my mind's eye a curious incident of this kind. 
A man living in the suburbs of a fairly large town in 
Scotland found, while digging a drain in his garden, 
an adze of jade and a prehistoric clay urn. At first it 
had been reported that the adze was inside the urn, but 
further inquiry showed that this was not the case, the 
objects being a few yards apart. The opinion of an 
expert, that the adze was a modern Australian implement, 
an opinion with which I entirely concurred, was con- 
temptuously rejected, and the true history of how this 
curious association of prehistoric and modern relics came 
about has never yet been explained so far as I know. 



In addition to the causes of error arising from the 
workings of the ordinary machinery of the brain, and 
those which have their origin in pure carelessness, there 
are many other fallacious sources which dog the footsteps 
of the antiquary, but over which he has still less control. 
The special one which we had to deal with in these pages 
centred on the siiggestio falsi — a subject which, under any 
circumstances, requires the most delicate handling. The 
effects of this pernicious element came before us in a 
variety of ways. We had instances in which objects, 
with regard to which there could be no manner of doubt 
that they had been recently manufactured, were knowingly 
sold as genuine relics of antiquity. As examples of this 
kind maybe mentioned the works of "Flint Jack," the 
numerous fabrications of lacustrine antiquities in Switzer- 
land, the spurious imitations of flint implements found 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 271 

in the Quaternary gravels of England and France, etc. 
A more insinuating, but equally unprincipled mode of 
proceeding, was to represent moderately old, but so far 
genuine objects, as having been found in circumstances 
which could not be accepted as authentic, without a 
negation of some of the leading deductions of archaeo- 
logical science. The persistent controversies in regard 
to the Moulin-Quignon jaw and the Calaveras skull 
entirely turned on some variation of this ignis fatuus. 
Of course there are many things, such as the osseous 
remains of animals, which could not by any possible 
means be imitated by the most ingenious forger. I am 
not aware that there was any suggestion made that the 
mortars, pestles, and other stone objects found in the 
Californian gravels had been actually manufactured for 
the purpose of deception. The fact that precisely similar 
objects could be readily found on old Indian camping- 
grounds, or, indeed, from the modern inhabitants of the 
district, does not, however, appear to have been taken 
into account by the earlier writers on the subject. For 
we must remember that archaeological science was then 
only in its infancy, and that those who furnished the 
most important part of the evidence were unskilled 
observers. The vast significance of finding a well-made 
mortar, with its pestle, embedded in Tertiary gravels, 
probably never entered the minds of the finders. Cer- 
tainly they could have no idea that the story, if cor- 
roborated and accepted on unimpeachable evidence, 
necessarily implied a greater antiquity of man than any 
other recorded discovery. Yet the crux of the whole 
matter originally lay in a simple matter of observation, 
merely to determine the precise circumstances in which 
the objects were found, and how they came to be placed 
there — questions which could only be determined then 
and there by skilled observers. Once a suspicion of 



272 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

mala fides arises a controversy generally ensues, em- 
bittered, it may be, by inconsiderate remarks on both 
sides, and the whole question has often to be discussed 
and adjudicated on hearsay evidence ; and as there may 
be no longer any possibility of ascertaining and verifying 
the facts of the original discovery, there remains really 
no alternative but to appeal to the principles and methods 
of inductive archaeology. The Moulin-Quignon jaw and 
the Calaveras skull were, in all probability, put in the 
positions in which they were discovered by thoughtless 
persons, either as a practical joke, or in consideration of 
some trifling reward.^ But who, or what court of justice, 
could, at any subsequent time, decide the question at 
issue in either case on the evidence adduced? But time 
is often a solver of riddles. Now, after an interval of 
some forty years, we have an opportunity of contem- 
plating, as it were, in cold blood, the far-reaching conse- 
quences of these acts of thoughtless indiscretion. 

When doubts as to the authenticity, or genuineness, of 
things antiquarian are raised, probably the first idea 
which springs up in the mind of the investigator is that 
of motive, a subject which, of course, in criminal trials 
becomes a leading feature. In some instances a slight 
preliminary inquiry establishes 2i prima facie probability 
of imposition, the patent motive being monetary gain — a 
fact which at once strengthens the evidential value of the 
suspicious-looking marks on the pretended relic which 
first attracted attention. 

Forgeries of this kind, as already mentioned, are quite 
common among the workers in the flint-implement-bear- 
fng gravels of England, France, and other countries. 
The most bewildering cases, however, are those in which 

1 It will be remembered thiit M. Boucher de Perthes offered a reward 
of 200 francs to the gravel-workers at Abbeville for the first discovery 
of human bones in situ. 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 273 

no intelligible motive can be discovered, unless we 
characterise the mere desire to hoax some ardent fellow- 
antiquary as a valid motive. The late Chancellor Fergu- 
son, of Carlisle, submitted a report to the Society of 
Antiquaries on February 15th, 1900, of which the follow- 
ing is the preamble : — 

" As local secretary, the painful duty devolves upon me ot 
nailing' to the counter, as forgeries, two Runic inscriptions on 
rocks in Cumberland, of which accounts and illustrations are 
given by our late Fellow, Professor George Stephens, in his 
great work on The Old NoTtherii Runic Monuments of Scandin- 
avia a7id England. " 

The first is an inscription on Barnspike Crags, in the 
parish of Bewcastle, in Cumberland, which Professor 
Stephens translates as follows : — 

* ' Baran wrote {this inscription^ in memory of Gillhes Bueth 
who was slain in a trttce by Robert D. Vaiilks for his patrimony 
now called Llanerkasta, a clumsy allusion to the long^-exploded 
story that Robert de Vallibus, second Baron of Gilsland, slew 
Gilles Bueth on the occasion of a truce." 

From Mr. Ferguson's learned communication describ- 
ing the discovery, history, and evidence of these forgeries, 
the following passage will be read with astonishment : — 

" The reference in the first of these inscriptions [the one given 
above] to the exploded story of the murder of Gilles Bueth by 
Robert de Vallibus, and the aptness with which, in each case, 
a personal name fits into the modern name of the place, excited 
long ago suspicion in my mind. I was aware, too, that the 
local antiquaries of North Cumberland, in the late fifties and 
the early sixties, were hot in controversy with one another in 
the columns of the Athencetim, in the columns of the Carlisle 
papers, and in shabby-looking pamphlets ; that the language 
in which they wrote of or to one another was strong ; that they 
were not above ' salting ' Roman sites with various objects for 
their brother local archaeologists to discover and be befooled 
over. But these men are all gone dead long ago. Despite of 

T 



274 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

all these things I have related they did good work, and they 
had one great virtue, they were hospitable to the extreme, and 
never failed, quarrel as they might on paper, to show hospitality 
to one another, or to any stranger antiquary, who might be 
wandering along the Roman wall." 

Comment on the above is unnecessary. 

With regard to specific rules in the art of detecting 
modern forgeries, which unfortunately come too frequently 
under the cognisance of professed archaeologists, I have 
really little to say, having no pretension whatever to the 
distinction of being considered an expert in the manipu- 
lative processes of either ancient or modern workers. 
Skill in recognising the special features of workmanship 
in different ages and localities is, however, attainable ; 
and it is most frequently to be met with among the 
qualifications of curators of museums and collectors of 
antiquities who have opportunities of passing under 
review all kinds of antiquarian objects. In this way they 
become familiar with the prevailing types of ancient relics, 
and their distribution in different areas, so that the 
slightest deviation from their typical standard is at once 
detected. One with eyes so trained and long experience 
is a veritable Sherlock Holmes, whose capability in spot- 
ting every abnormal feature is truly astonishing. When 
the question of forgery is first mooted the cause of sus- 
picion may be the merest trifle, which to ordinary eyes 
would probably suggest nothing. Sir John Evans tells 
us that when at Abbeville he once saw a flint implement, 
of a rich brown colour, dug out of the gravel, which 
" proved, however, still to retain upon its surface the 
finger-marks of the forger, who had smeared it with the 
dark brown coating of clay. Mr. Francis Galton might 
perhaps have identified the artist by the finger-marks. 
On thoroughly washing such specimens their modern 
character becomes apparent." It has been already noti- 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 275 

fied (page 46) that the Swiss antiquaries on one occasion 
detected a forged bronze arrow-head by the fact that it 
retained the impression of the fibres of the wooden mould 
from which it had been cast. 

But such instances are merely illustrations of the 
potency of common shrewdness and a quick perception 
of minute details, qualities by no means to be despised in 
archaeological researches. The acquired skill of an expert 
is, however, something more — something which has to 
be acquired by long apprenticeship. This qualification, 
though slow in growth, is quick in action, often leading 
the expert to act as if by intuition after a short inspection 
of the object. It was, apparently, on technical knowledge 
of this kind that Mr. Charles Hercules Read, Mr. J. 
Romilly Allen, and Professor Boyd Dawkins founded 
their opinions as already described (page 178). If skilled 
knowledge is to be of any service to archaeology, surely 
that of these distinguished experts in the science must be 
regarded as a weighty element against the authenticity of 
the disputed objects of the Clyde district. The presence 
of two fresh-looking oyster shells, known as American 
"blue points," among the Clyde art gallery is rather a 
hard nut for the supporters of the Neolithic theory to 
crack. It will be interesting to know how this fact is to 
be explained away by the believers in these ancient shell- 
carvers of the Clyde valley. 

"How Bogus Antiquities are Made" is the heading 
of an amusing article which appeared in Truth (May 28th, 
1903) under " Notes from Paris." It extends to upwards 
of four columns — impossible to condense and too long to 
be quoted. As a specimen of the information here 
divulged the following extract must suffice : — 

" I have been to see a manufacturer of such wares. He 
makes no secret of his business, and enjoys sometimes a laugh 
at the amateurs who come in his way. In chatting about them 



276 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

he said : ' Latterly an antiquary sent me a block of marble to 
make a copy of an objet (Tart belongings to him. I executed 
the order, and g-ave it such a patine that it looked more genuine 
than the original. I sent it to him, and he took it for the 
original. Some days later I took him the real thing. He 
looked at it, turned it round, passed his finger over it, made a 
face, and said : ' It's a bit faulty. To be frank, it's a blotched 
copy. I hardly care to take it.' I looked at him, and at last I 
said : 'Why, it's the piece you gave me to copy.' I thought 
he would have laughed with me. But, no ; he grew quite 
angry, talked aloud, and pretended that he had known without 
my telling him, but feigned ignorance to see how far my 
impudence would go.' 

" I turned the conversation from marble to wooden antiqui- 
ties. 

"'With wood you can do what you please. You can now 
make it worm-eaten and put dry rot into the carved parts. A 
chisel cannot work on dry rot. This defect can be used as a 
certificate of authenticity. One of my friends bought a hahiit. 
He paid three experts to examine it, and they certified it to be 
genuine. Some time after he had it taken down to shift it to 
another room. In moving it, a panel got broken, and he sent 
it to Picard to be repaired. ' Goodness me ! ' cried Picard, ' it 
is the bahut that I made a few years ago.' The cabinet-makers 
who work for antiquaries now use the oak which had been 
employed in the beams and rafters of old houses. Fortunes 
have been made by knowing people who bought old tumble- 
down houses in Orleans and other provincial towns. They 
sold the rotten wood to manufacturers of ancient furniture for 
more than the house cost, and had the ground for nothing. I 
have another acquaintance who manufactures timepieces for an 
antiquary at the price of 70,000 fr. apiece. 

" ' And for what does the dealer sell them? He alone could 
say. Such things are counted invaluable. The antiquaries 
sell them to courtiers, who sell theni to Park-lane millionaires 
and Americans. There are now only these two classes of 
purchasers. Here and there a French millionaire springs up 
and wants to distinguish himself as a collector. One should 
leave to all such their illusions. The forged thing is as good 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 277 

as the genuine. Not long" ago I took two pieces of furniture 
that M. de Vaufrelard prides himself on possessing for genuine 
things, until I became acquainted with the man who made 
them. Marble is the material that least betrays the present- 
day workman. I am now making a marble fountain which 
will look the product of a far-back time, I gave it patine by 
burning damp straw under it ; and then I knock off a nose, or 
a finger or leaves of a wreath. It is a great trial to artistic 
workmen to be obliged to mutilate their work in this way. 
We feel awfully disgusted when we have disfigured a statuette. 
But we can make three times more money in working for anti- 
quaries than for moderns. Sometimes our profits are enormous ; 
we have to be so conscientious, and so attentive to details. 
The antiquaries can ask any prices they like. Their customers 
want antique things to give the illusion of having ancestors 
who flourished in far-back centuries. A present craze is for 
tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth century marbles. They 
are very ugly, but they help to throw dust in the eyes of South 
African gold kings settled in Paris, and American heiresses." 

The probable origin of the above article in Truth was 
the sensational report that the supposed masterpiece 
of Greek art known as the tiara of Sai'tapharnes, in the 
Louvre Museum, Paris, was a forgery. It would be too 
long to describe the full history of this object and the 
discussions to which it gave rise among European experts 
in classical archaeology ; but those specially interested 
in the matter will find all that in U Anthropologie ^^ from 
the pen of no less an authority than Salomon Reinach. 
It may, however, be of interest to give a few of the 
leading features of this remarkable case. 

At a seance of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles- 
Lettres, held on the ist of April, 1896,2 it was announced 
that the Musee du Louvre had just acquired two wonder- 
ful monuments of ancient Greek goldsmiths' work, viz. 
a tiara and a neck-collar, found in Southern Russia, near 

^ 1903, pp. 238, 361 et seq. ~ Coniptes Rendus, p. 133. 



278 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

the site of the ancient town of Olbia. For these objects 
200,000 francs were paid. On the tiara (PL XVIIL) there 
was an inscription to the effect that it was an offering by 
that town to a Scythian king named Saitapharnes. One 
did not know, it was said, which to admire most — the 
fresh condition in which the tiara had reached them, 
the importance of its composition, or the historical in- 
terest attached to it. From the very beginning, some 
experts, such as Furtwaengler, of Munich, De Stern, 
conservator of the Odessa Museum, and Murray and 
Read, of the British Museum, had expressed doubts as to 
the authenticity of the tiara, as well as of other antiquities 
professing to come from the same quarter. But these 
opinions were confined to experts and had no effect on the 
public, or on the responsible authorities of the Louvre 
Museum. It was not till the summer of 1903 that the 
circumstantial evidence of its forgery reached a climax. 
M. Reinach thus describes the circumstances : — 

" La crise decisive fut le resultat d'une ' fumisteire.' Un 
artiste montmartrois, M. Mayence dit Elina, sous le coup 
de poursuites pour avoir falsifid des dessins de Pille, d^clara au 
juge d'instruction Boucart qu'il etait I'auteur de la Couronne de 
Seiniramis (17th March, 1903). Puis il rectifia ; il s'agissait de 
la tiare de Saitapharnes, Imm^diatement, le public assi^gea 
la vitrine du Louvre et la pol^mique commenca. Consulte par 
des journalistes, je declarai qu'Elina avait un rival Razoumow- 
sky [sic)^ qui avait ete d6sign6, des 1896, comme I'auteur de 
la tiare, mais que les efforts faits pour le retrouver, etaient 
restt^s sans resultats. Li dessus, un orfevre russe d'Odessa, 
6tabli i Paris depuis 1897, et une dame d'originie danoise, 
ecrivirent au Matin (23 Mars) que ' Rouchoumowsky,' leur 
etait bien connu, que c'etait un ciseleur de grand talent et qu'il 
etait bien I'auteur de la tiare." ^ 

Meantime a correspondent of the Figaro telegraphed 

^ L' Anthropologie , t. xiv. p. 247. 



PLATE XVIII 




THE TIARA OF SAITAPHARNES RECENTLY PROVED TO BE A FORGERY 

FROM ILLUSTRATIOK IN ACADEMIE DBS lySCBIPTIOXS ET BELLES-LETTRES. iSq6 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 279 

from Odessa that Rouchoumowsky was ready to come to 
Paris for 1200 francs, and supply proof positive that 
he had actually manufactured the tiara. The result of 
the official investigation which ensued on his arrival 
in Paris has not, however, completely solved the mystery. 
There is no longer any doubt that the tiara to the extent 
of three-fourths was the actual work of this artist ; but as 
to the rest, as well as certain ornamental details, they were 
supplied to him as mutilated fragments, said to be 
ancient, by one Hochmann, a grain merchant, from Otch- 
akoff, near Odessa, for whom he had executed the work. 
It is reported that behind all there is a learned archaeolo- 
gist who manufactured the supposed ancient fragments, 
but who will not come on the scene till 1905, when the 
time for taking legal action in cases of forgery expires. 



Civilisation may be defined as the tout ensemble of 
human activities, as disclosed in the current phenomena 
of social and national life. When these activities are 
carefully scanned as to their origin and modus operandi, 
they speedily resolve themselves into the principles of the 
division of labour which, in the present day, regulate 
nearly all physical and mental work. As the population 
increased in number and prosperity these intellectual and 
commercial highways, which stretch from the mythic past 
along a series of well-defined channels, became more and 
more crowded by highly trained candidates competing for 
distinction and preferment in their respective spheres of 
action. Thus we find society divided into various groups 
— statesmen, lawyers, historians, philosophers, doctors, 
clergymen, professors, soldiers, smiths, carpenters, etc., 
all of whom had to undergo a preparatory course of 
training or apprenticeship before being allowed to dis- 
charge their special duties. Moreover, many of the pro- 



28o ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

fessions and trades are further protected by long-standing 
monopolies, customs, and fashions, whose faint beginnings 
are lost in the mists of antiquity. The duties of these 
representatives of the body-politic, whether dependent on 
mental ability or mechanical skill, are not transferable to 
the uninitiated. On an emergency the smith cannot take 
the place of the carpenter, nor the doctor that of the law- 
yer ; and so it is with all skilled experts. Unfortunately 
this safeguard to efficiency has not hitherto been enforced 
in those departments of knowledge, such as archaeology, 
the interests of which are not directly essential to the com- 
mercial prosperity of the nation. But the materials of 
archaeology are so saturated with human interest that they 
appeal to the sentiments of all cultured people, and hence 
the vast majority of antiquaries, being recruited from all 
professions, trades, and grades in life, may possess none 
of the qualifications requisite for the successful prosecu- 
tion of original work. For this reason the best efforts of 
tyro antiquaries often lack the methodical arrangement 
and precision which characterise the productions of those 
occupying themselves with more utilitarian studies. It 
follows from these remarks that if archeology is to be 
conducted under the most favourable conditions its 
methods of reasoning and principles of action must be 
acquired through systematic training, the same as is done 
in all other crafts and sciences. 

But if on purely academic grounds a prima facie plea 
can be established for systematic instruction in archaeo- 
logy, what a strong case could be made out of the story 
unfolded in these pages, not only for securing intelligent 
supervision for all field work, but also for a reconsideration 
of the relationship of the State to the antiquities still pre- 
served in concealment under the surface of the earth ! 
Such discoverable materials are a valuable national asset, 
and the State, through its accredited agents, ought to 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 281 

prevent their wanton destruction. For the future it is on 
spade-work we have chiefly to rely for any considerable 
increase to the antiquarian materials already preserved in 
our museums. But the spade can be used as an imple- 
ment of destruction as well as for unearthing archaeological 
treasures. Success depends on the intelligence which 
guides the hand of the operator. Excavations conducted 
by incompetent and irresponsible persons may do irre- 
trievable mischief by destroying evidence which in the 
hands of a skilled antiquary might prove to be a valuable 
discovery. Prehistoric sites, forts, habitations, sepulchres, 
etc., may be roughly excavated without yielding any relics, 
simply because the operators were ignorant of the kind of 
remains they were to look out for. This kind of research 
is little better than what a farmer does when he removes 
the stones of a cairn, or a fort, or a circle to build dykes. 
By such haphazard means a few antiquities have occasion- 
ally come to light, but far more have been lost. All 
indiscriminate excavations on antiquarian sites by un- 
skilled persons, however interested they may be in such 
work, should be forbidden by law. Some years ago I 
visited the famous Hill of Tara along with an ex- 
cursion party consisting of members of the Royal 
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, and there saw open 
trenches and sporadic diggings through its raths and 
green mounds, done by an irresponsible enthusiast for 
the fanciful object of discovering the "Ark of the 
Covenant." 

On a somewhat similar footing must be placed the law 
relating to treasure-trove as it is now put in operation in 
this country. The recent action of the Government 
against the Trustees of the British Museum, for the 
recovery of certain gold ornaments found in Ireland as 
treasure-trove, proves how necessary it is that the entire 
question of the relation of the State to Archaeology should 

2 T 



282 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 

be reconsidered and readjusted on a basis of common 
sense. In commenting on this unique case, the editor 
of the Juridical Review makes the following judicious 
remarks : — 

" It is absurd that the nation throug-h the Crown — for that is 
what it comes to — should be able to lay claim to a gold tore 
if found hidden in the ground, but not if found on the surface of 
the ground or in the sea, and probably not if found in a pre- 
historic grave (for that is presumably not a case of occultatio 
thesauri, but rather of deliberate abandonment). If the claim 
of the finder of articles of antiquarian value, or of the owner of 
the land in which they are discovered, is to be overridden in 
the larger interests of the public, the law should be reformed 
so as to avowedly meet this object, and should in particular be 
extended so as to include, with adequate safeguards and induce- 
ments, all objects of distinct antiquarian value, whether of gold 
or silver or not, and irrespective of any requirement of proof or 
presumption as to their having been originally hidden."^ 

To rectify these legal anomalies and, especially, to pro- 
tect the antiquarian remains still extant in our land, 
surely something ought to be done. Would it not be 
advisable, as is done in other countries, to appoint 
Government inspectors in different districts whose duty 
should be to see that antiquarian excavations were con- 
ducted by properly qualified persons, or under the 
auspices of recognised authorities ? The Cantonal 
authorities in Switzerland soon put a stop to the indis- 
criminate howkings for lacustrine antiquities that went 
on after the Correction des eaux du Jura, which lowered 
the surfaces of some of the lakes six or seven feet. 

In conclusion it may be observed that, in this country, 
it is private liberality which generally supplies the funds 
for carrying out archaeological researches. 

Foremost among the investigations, which come under 

^ Juridical Review, vol. xv. p. 277. 



GENERAL AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 283 

this category are the excavations and publications of the 
late General Pitt-Rivers. His exhaustive monographs 
are of the utmost value to students of British archaeology, 
as well as perfect models of how antiquarian discoveries 
should be recorded and illustrated. But the systematic 
teaching of anthropology has now become too important 
a branch of human knowledge to be left dependent on so 
precarious a source of support as private liberality. The 
least that should be done, to put the students of the 
history of Man and Civilisation in this country on some- 
thing like a footing of equality with those of other 
civilised nations, would be to appoint a Professor of 
Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology in each of the 
three capitals of the United Kingdom, with suitable 
class-rooms within the walls of their respective archaeolo- 
gical museums, so that their vast treasures could be 
readily available to illustrate systematic lectures on this 
fascinating subject. In this way the value of our anti- 
quarian museums, as a means of popular instruction, 
would be greatly enhanced ; for, in the present lifeless 
condition of these institutions, few can be regarded as 
returning to the community an adequate quid pro quo for 
the large sums yearly expended on their upkeep. 



INDEX 



Abbeville, flint implements, 31 et seq. 

Abbot, Dr., on palaeolithic imple- 
ments in Trenton g-ravels, 86 

Abercromby, the Hon. John, on flint 
animal forms at Vol6sova, 78 

Abernethy, fort of, 187 

^sica. Late Celtic work at, 203 

Ag-e de la corne, 44-51 

Allen, Mr. J. Romilly, on Dumbuck 
relics, 178 

— on Late Celtic art, 211, 212 

— as an expert, 275 

Alston, W. M., on plan of Dumbuck 

" crannog"," 142 
America, animal forms in flint in, 80 
Amulet, with hand and rowing-boat, 

228 
Amulets (Clyde), described, 227 

— — not like " churing-a '' from 
Australia, 247 

Anderson, Dr. Joseph, on Dumbuck 
relics, 174 

— on age of brochs, 182 

— on relics from Bute, 232 
Ang-lo-Saxon graves with Late Celtic 

ornaments, 201 
Animal forms in flint in Russia, 76 

in Egypt, 80 

in America, 80 

Anthropology, systematic teaching' 

of, 10, 283 

in other countries, 1 1 

Antrim co. , forgery of antiquities 

in, 123 
Archaeolog"ical errors, consequence 

of, 267 
Archseolog-y, object of, i 

— materials of, 7-9 



Archseolog'y and chronology, 9-20 

— and false antiquities, 27 

— systematic teaching- of, 283 
Arctic group of Stone Age objects, 

izSyCt seq. 

Art, early Glasg^ow school of, 231 

, Arunta tribe, " sacred things of," 245 

churing-a of, 246 

and Clyde objects not com- 
parable, 249 

Ascia lunata, type of, 58 

Aspelin, M. , on penannular brooches, 
217 

Astley, Rev. H. J. Dukinfield, on 
Dr. Munro's writings, 163 

— his statements contradicted, 163 

— his article " On Ornaments of 
Jet," etc., reviewed, 166 

— on " Religious and Magical 
Ideas," 166 

— on stone-cut piles at Dumbuck, 168 

— objects from Portuguese dolmens 
paralleled with Clyde grotesques, 
169 

— on persecution of Clyde idolaters, 
229 

Baal, priests of, use stone knives, 243 
Balmaclellan, Late Celtic objects, 

200 
Barlaston, Late Celtic discs, 200 
Baye, Baron de, on penannular 

brooches, 217 
Beacons on the Clyde, 135, 257 
Bccid of lithomargfe, 126 
Beauvais, forg-ery of antiquities at, 

38 
Becker, Dr., on the Neale Pestle, loi 



285 



286 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



Beregonium, enamelled disc, 214 
" Billy and Charley's " forg-eries, 121, 

122 
" Blue Points " (oysters) at Dumbuie, 

179 
Bog-US antiquities at Elie, 12S 
— ■ — how to make them, 275 
Bos lotigifrons at Lang^bank, 219 

at Elie, 220 

Boucher de Perthes on Moulin- 

Quignon jaw, 31, 3.1 
Bracelets of the Late Celtic period, 

200 
Breonio controversy, 56-71 
British Archeeolog-ical Association 

and Dumbuck "crannog-," 162 ct 

seq. 
Broca, on retreating- chin, 36 
Bronze Ag-e, date of, 12 

— cutting- implements, superiority 
over those of stone, 12 

Brooch, penannular, of brass or 
bronze, at Langbank, 147 

Bruce, Mr. John, on wooden struc- 
tures at Dumbuck, 138 

— declines proposal to submit relics 
to a committee of experts, 152 

— reads paper on Dumbuck at 
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 
170, 173 

■ — on cutting- marks on piles at 

Langbank, 219 
Brushfield, Dr., on age of Dumbuck, 

163 
Bryce, Dr., on Bos longifrons at 

Lang-bank, 219 

— on cutting- marks on piles at 
Langbank, 219 

Buick, Dr., on Moylarg crannog, 

215 
Busk, Mr., on Moulin-Quignon jaw, 

34 
Buston, iron axes from, 219 
Bute, objects of slate and shale 
found in, belong to early Chris- 
tian period, and not comparable 
to Clyde disputed objects, 232 et 
seq. 

— and Clyde artists totally different, 
235 



Calaveras skull, 87-109 

legend of, 96 

Dr. Wyman on, 99 

and evolution, 109, 1 10 

Californian gravels, geology and 

palaeontology of, 93 

implements in, 94 

age of, 105 

worked objects, 105, 107 

— ■ — fossil plants belong to extinct 

species, 105 
Camelon, penannular brooch, 215 
Canoe at Dumbuck, 137 

objects found in, 162 

Castle Law, fort of, 187 

Castle Newe, Late Celtic remains, 

200 
Castlefranco, Professor, on Breonio 

finds, 61, 65 
Causeways, stone, at Dumbuck, 136, 

139 

when formed? 188 

Ceraunia, 242, 245 

Chaflfaud, Grotte du, forgeries, 38 

Chantre, E. , on forgeries from 

Mnikow, 71 
Christison, Dr. David, on disputed 

objects from Dumbuck, 175 
— • on circular fort near Loch Awe, 

183 
Christy and Lartet hoaxed, 41 
Chronology and archaeology, 9-20 
"Churinga" from Dunbuie, 166, 246 

— from Australia, 247 
Circumcision among Jews, 243 -" 
Civilisation defined, 279 
Clarence King pestle, 103 

Clyde relics compared with those at 
Vol6sova, 73, 77 

— controversy, story of, 149-80 

— weapons not like any others, 225 

— grotesques not survivals, 245 

— my3tery, its present position, 264 
— ■ artists, motives for their designs, 

259 
Cochrane, Mr. Robert, on Late 

Celtic art, 203, 212 
Coins, forgery of, 26 



INDEX 



287 



Comb, bone, from Lang'bank, 147, 
197 

— • from Ghegan Rock, 197 

Combs, with Late Celtic ornamenta- 
tion, 207 

— long-handled, 209 
Compass, iron, at Loughcrew, 204 
Concise, forg-ery of antiquities at, 46 
Conrad, Merk, on Kesslerloch 

forg-eries, 55 
Conwell, Mr., on bone ornaments at 

Loughcrew, 204 
Corporation cairns in the Clyde, 177, 

257,258 
Cortaillod, forgeries at, 50 
Cosmic evolution Rndllo/uo sapiens, 3 
Crahay, Professor, on Snieermaas 

jaw, 268 
Cross, leaden, with penannular 

brooch, 215 
Culbin Sands, penannular brooch, 

216 
Cuming-, H. Syer, on forgeries, 120 

et seq. 
Cunningham, Professor, on speech, 5 

Data, archseolog'ical, accuracy of, 
essential, 270 

Dawkins, Professor Boyd, on fallow- 
deer, 174 

— on "Blue Points," 179, 254 

— as an expert, 275 

Denmark, penannular brooches, 217 

Designs on disputed objects (Clyde), 

commononneighbouringrocks, 260 

— on stones from Dunbuie suggest 
deception, 229 

Disputed objects (Clyde) discussed, 

221-65 

productions of one school, 254 

curious distribution of, 255 

age of, 257 

easily manufactured, 260 

meaningless interlopers, 264 

Donnelly, Mr. W. A., discoverer of 

Dumbuck, 133, 150 

— paper on Dumbuck at Glasgow 
Archaeological Society, 161 

— at British Archaeological Associa- 
tion, 162 



Dordogne Caves, forgeries from, 42 
Dowalton Crannog, penannular 

brooch from, 215 
Dumbuck "crannog," described, 133 

wooden structures, 135, 136 

causeways at, 136, 139, 188 

kitchen refuse, 136 

ladder, quern, and canoe, 137, 

i8g 
— • — strange objects from, 141 

plan of, 142 

an Iron Age site, 187 

— ■ — a post-Roman site, 220 

• osseous remains from, ignored, 

263 
Dtc?i Fheurain, 187 
Dunbuie hill-fort, description of, 130- 

133 . 

limpet shell with human face, 

133, 166, 258 

— — • not differentiated from other 
neighbouring forts, 181 

-a post-Roman site, 220 

strange designs of, 229 

position of relics in debris, 258 

Duncan, Mr. Dalrymple, on Dum- 
buck, 161, 256 
Dunskeig, forts on, 182 

" Early Glasgow school of art," 231 
Egypt, animal forms in flint from, 80 
Eirde House, Late Celtic remains in, 

200 
Elephant, form of, on Lenape stone, 

88 
— • — on bones from Dordogne caves, 

38, 41 
Elie, Bos longifrons at, 220 
Embalming in Egypt, 243 
Enamelled discs, 200, 214 
Erect attitude, significance of, 4 
Errors from suggestio falsi, 270 
Evans, Dr. Arthur, on Late Celtic 

art, 203, 212 

— Sir John, on date of Bronze Age, 12 

— on the forgery of antiquities, 23, 
26, 119 

— on " Flint Jack," 117 

— on finger-marks in detecting 
forgeries, 274 



288 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



Evolution and Calaveras skull, loq 

— and Moulin-Quig^non jaw, no 
Expert skill, acquired by longf train- 
ing-, 275 

Falconer, Dr. Hugfh, on Boucher de 

Perthes' collection, 31 
Fallow-deer, remains of, 173, 174 
False antiquities defined, 20-6 
Falsification of antiquities, motives 

for, 22 
Ferg-uson, Chancellor, on a Runic 

forgery, 273 
Figurines, Clyde, unique, 230 
" Flint Jack," story of, 111-17 

— visited Scotland and Ireland, 113 

— exhibited his skill at Geologists' 
Association, 115 

— at Blackmore Museum, 116 
Fish-bothy or crannog? 193 
Forel, forgeries at, 49 
Forgeries, skill in detecting, 274 

— in France, 33-43 

— Somme gravels, 23 

— Grotte du Chaffaud, 38 

— Beauvais, 39 

— Dordogne caves, 43 

— Switzerland, 46 

— Yverdon, 46 

— Concise, 46 

— Forel, 49 

■ — Cortaillod, 50 

— Kesslerloch Cave, 55 

— Mnikow, 72 

— Vol6sova, 77 

— collections of, in Blackmore 
Museum, Salisbury, 1 16 

— • — in Reading Museum, 117 
• — • — in Royal Scottish Museum, 1 15 
in National Museum, Edin- 
burgh, 127 
Forgers, Swiss, tried and punished, 

55 
Forgery of Antiquities, Sir John 

Evans on, 23, 26, 117, iig, 274 

in Ireland, 123, 126 

Forts, like Dunbuie, 182 et seq 
Franks, Sir Wollaston, on Late 

Celtic period, 197 



Furtwsengler, on the tiara of Saita- 
pharn^s, 278 

General conclusion on the range of 
Dunbuie, Dumbuck, and Lang- 
bank, 220 

Ghegan Rock, comb with Late Celtic 
ornament, 197, 205 

Giant's Causeway, forgeries at, 123, 
127 

Glasgow Archaeological Society on 
Dumbuck "crannog," 161 

Glastonbury lake-village, 189, 199 

Government inspectors for archseo- 
log-ical excavations, 282 

Gross, Dr., on the Horn Age, 44 

— on ring-buckles, 216 

Haeckel, Professor, on speech, 5 
Hallstatt, civilisation of, 199 
Hamy, M., on Moulin-Quignon jaw, 

35 
Hannibal used flint knife for sacrifice, 

244 
Harte, Bret, on Calaveras skull, 88 
Holmes, W. H., on Gravel Man of 

California, 91 et seq 

— on Calaveras skull, 98, 99, ro6 
Homer on millstones, 190 

Homo sapiens and Cosmic evolution, 

v3 
Horn Age (so-called), a forgery, 44, 

51 
Horse, remains of, at Dumbuck^ 191 

— flesh forbidden to be eaten, 191 
Human jaw at Moulin-Quignon, 30- 

37 

at Naulette, 36 

at Spy, 36 

Hume, Dr., on penannular brooches, 

216 
Hunsbury Camp, Late Celtic period, 

189, 199 
Hyndford crannog, Late Celtic work 

at, 213 

penannular brooch at, 215 

Hypothesis, strange, as to the tops 

of the piles at Dumbuck being 

pointed, 138 



INDEX 



289 



Idolaters of Duinbuck persecuted, 

Idols of clay common in prehistoric 
times, 80 

— at Dumbuck, 141 

— at Lang-bank, 148 
Implements (Clyde) not of Neolithic 

types, 227 
Iron Age, date of, 13 

Jewitt, Llewellyn, on bronze plaques, 

200, 212 
Judgment, liable to error, 267 
Juridical Review on treasure-trove, 

289 

Kerkhoffs, M., on Smeermaas jaw, 

269 
Kesslerloch Cave, forgeries in, 55 
Kingston Dock, discoveries at, 188, 
, 236 

Knives, stone, at Dunbuie, 132 
at Dumbuck, 141 

— of slate in Norway, 224 
Knowles, Mr. W. J., on forgeries in 

Antrim, 123 
Koch, Dr. Albert, on man and the 

mastodon, 83, 84 
Koudriavtsev, M. , on the station of 

Vol6sova, 75 

La T^ne, civilisation of, 199 
Lacustrine antiquities, forg"eries of, 

43-55 
Ladder at Dumbuck, 137 

— and spear-head, 256 

Lang, Mr. Andrew, letter on Dum- 
buck relics, 177 

— parallels to Clyde weapons, 223 

— on art of Clyde grotesques, 231, 
232 

— on Roman Tommy Atkins, 240 

— on Highland magic stone, 251, 253 

— on position of spear-head, 256 

— argument against Dumbuck ob- 
jects being forgeries, 261 

Langbank "crannog," description 

of, 145-8 . 
relics from, 147 

— — chronological range of, ig6, 220 
bone comb from, 205 



Langbank "crannog," structure of 

woodwork, 218 
— ■ — ■ piles cut with metal axes, 219 

brooch from, 218 

Bos longifrons from, 219 

Lartet and Christy, MM., hoaxed, 41 
Late Celtic civilisation, 13 

— art, range of, 197-21 1 

origin of, 199, 208, 209 

objects characteristic of, 210 

distribution of, 200-10 

foundat Stanhope, Castle Newe, 

Balmaclellan, Victoria Cave, Bar- 
laston, Middleton Moor, x^sica. 
Loch Foyle, Lisnacroghera, Lough- 
crew, Elvedon, Brough, Silchester, 
Lochlee, and Hyndford, 200-10 

— ornamentation on leaden pendant, 
215 

Laws, the fort of, 187 

Lee, J. Edward, on forgeries at 
Kesslerloch, 56 

Lenape stone, 87 

Limpet shell carved with human 
face, 133 

— • position of, in debris, 258, 259 

Lindenschmit, Professor, on Kessler- 
loch forgeries, 56 

Lisnacroghera, Late Celtic work at, 
204 

Livonia, penannular brooches in, 217 

Lochlee crannog, wooden structures, 
135 

— pottery from, 187 

— Late Celtic work, 213 

— iron axes, 219 

Log-pavement at Dumbuck, 134, 135 
London excavations, penannular 

brooch in, 215 
Loughcrew, Late Celtic bonework, 

204 
Luing, circular fort at, 184, 1S5 
Lyell, Sir Charles, on Moulin- 

Quignon jaw, 2)2) 
— • on Smeermaas jaw, 268 

Macnaug-hton, Dr. Allan, on Luing 

fort, 1S4-7 
Magic stone. Highland, 251 



.vi.»!?jfe.i:3T 



290 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



Man, differentiated from other ani- 
mals, 3 

— speciality of his works, 3 

— antiquity of, in America, 82 et seq. 
Mann, L. Maclellan, on Lang'bank 

as a pre-Ron\an station, 197 

— his theory untenable, 213 
Mastodon and man, 83 
Materials of Archaeology, 7 
Meillet, M., forg-eries of, 37 
Metal objects, rare in forts, 187 
Middleton Moor, Late Celtic works 

at, 202 
Millar, Mr. Adam, on Dumbuie fort, 
131 et seq. 

— on carved limpet-shell, 133, 259 

— on letter from Dr. Munro, 151 
Millstones, 189, 190 

Missing- link, 251 

Mitchell, Sir Arthur, on archeeologi- 
cal areas, 17 

— on the Clyde Trust, 171 

— on distinction between genuine- 
ness and authenticity, 175 

— on Dumbuck structures, 175, 177 
Mnikow, caves of, strange relics, 68, 

71. 73 

reported on by a committee, 73 

Mortillet, G. de, motives for falsifi- 
cations, 22 

— on Moulin-Quignon jaw, -^jii 35 

— on "Faux Paleoethnologiques," 
37-43 

— on Breonio flints, 58, 65, 68 

— Ad. de, on relics from Mnikow, 71 
Moulin-Quignon jaw, 30-7 

■ — • — international commission on, 32 

literature of, 33 

and evolution, 1 10 

Moylarg, tracked stone at, 190 

— penannular brooch, 215 
Munro, Robert, m.d., on Clyde relics, 

153 

— letter to Mr. Millar, 151 

— Rev. Robert, on Dumbuck " cran- 
nog," 160 

— Fish-bothies in Clyde, 192 
Murchison, Sir R. , on glaciation, 267 



Murray, Dr. David, on Dumbuck 
"crannog," central cavity, 135 

— forgery of relics, 161 

— letter on, 177 

— on Corporation cairns, 177, 257, 
258 

— on Clyde weapons of slate, etc., 
223 

— on shale objects, 235 et seq. 
Museums, utilised for teaching, 283 

Naulette, human jaw of, 36 

Neale, J. H. , on stone mortar and 

spear-heads found beneath lava, 

loi, 103 

Objects, worked, Californian gravels, 

107 

Dunbuie, 131 

Dumbuck, 141 

Langbank, 147 

Ollamh Fodlila, tomb of, 205 
Ossowsky, Professor, on Mnikow 

caves, 68, 72 
Ouvdroff, Count, 57, 71, 74 
Oyster shell, carved, 166, 258 
Oysters (Blue Points), 179 

Pebble, with palm of hand on, 141 

Penannular brooch not in La T^ne, 
216 

distribution of, 214-18 

found at Woodcuts Common, 

Rotherby, Wilderspool, London, 
Okstrovv, Camelon, Dowalton, 
Hyndford, Moylarg, Culbin, Fair- 
ford, shores of Baltic, Livonia, 
Finland, Portugal, Denmark, 214- 
218 

origin of, in Western Europe 

in early Iron Age, 218 

Pendants, 227 

Perthes, Boucher de, on Moulin- 
Quignon jaw, 31-7 

Pestle, stone, Neale, 100 

Clarence King, 103 

Petrie, Professor Flinders, on animal 
forms in flint found in Egypt, 80 

Picts' knives of slate, 224 



INDEX 



2gi 



Pierres de foudre, 240, 245 
Pigorini, Professor LuigT, on Brconio 
finds, 56-71 

— on relics from Mnikow, 68, 71 
from Russia, 71, 74 

Piles in Dumbuck crannog', pecu- 
liarity of, 134 

hypothesis as to use, 134 

cut by metal tools, 134, 188 

cut with stone axes? 168 

Pitt-Rivers, General, 214 

publications of, 283 

Plan of Dumbuck " crannog;," 143 
Plea for s\'stematic teaching of 

archseology, 280-3 
Plunket, Mr. Thomas, on forgeries, 

123 
Portpatrick churchyard, shale discs 

in, 239 
Portugal, penannular brooch, 217 
P(3^/?<^a/za and "Cl3'deside parallels," 

169 
Pottery, rare on Scottish forts, 187 
Pre-Celtic civilisation, 133, 155 
Price, J. E., penannular brooches, 215 
Professorships of anthropology and 

prehistoric archaeology, 283 
Prolegomena, 2, 26, 241 
Pruner-Bey, on Moulin-Quignon jaw, 

34 

Quatrefages, De.on Moulin-Quignon 

jaw, 35 
Querns at Dunbuie, 132 

— Dumbuck, 137, 189 

— Luing fort, 185 

— Glastonbury and Hunsbury, 209 

— belong to Iron Age, 189 

Range in time of Dunbuie, Dumbuck, 

and Langbank, 220 
Rau, Mr. Charles, on Dr. Koch's 

discoveries, 84 
Read, Mr. Charles H., on Dumbuck 

relics, 178 

— as a skilled expert, 275 

— on tiara of Sai'tapharnes, 278 
Reading Museum, forgeries in, 117 
Reinach, Salomon, on tiara of Sai'ta- 
pharnes, 277, 278 



Riga, penannular brooches at, 217 
Roman civilisation and Late Celtic 

art, 209 
Romans, as manufacturers of the 

Clyde grotesques, 240 
Rotherby, penannular brooch, 214 
Rouchoumowsky, maker of tiara of 

Sa'itapharn^s, 279 
Royal Scottish Museum, collection of 

" Flint Jack's " forg-eries in, 1 15 
Runic inscription, forgery of, 273 
Rygh, Mr., on "Arctic group," 225 

St. Blane's Church, objects at, 232, 

234 
St. Germain Museum, Director of, 

on Lacustrine forgeries, 53 
Sa'itapharnfes, tiara of, 277, 279 
Sayce, Professor, on folklore and 

religion, 250 
Schweinfurth, Dr., on animal forms 

in flint, 80 
Seamill, fort of, 187 
Shale, worked objects of, common 

in all periods, 239 
Skull, Calaveras, compared with 

Java skull, 106 
Svieerniaas jaw, 268 
Smith, W. G., on forgeries, 118 
Spain, penannular brooches, 217 
Sparkbrook on missing link, 253 
Spear-head from Dumbuck, 141 

plugged with oak pin, 222 

its position in debris, 256 

— from Dunbuie, with root growing 
in hole, 223 

Spear-heads at Dunbuie, 131 

— in Scandinavia different from 
those of Clyde, 225 

— as survivals, 255 

Speech, a dominant factor in evolu- 
tion, 5 
Spencer and Gillen on Australian 

churinga, 245 
Spy jaw, 36 

Stanhope, Late Celtic remains, 200 
State and treasure-trove, 281 
Stefani, De, on Breonio "finds," 58 
et seq. 



292 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES 



Stern, De, on tiara of Saitapharn^s, 

278 
Stevens, Dr. Joseph, on "Flint 

Jack," III ei seq. 

— Edward J., on forgeries, 116 
Stone objects of Clyde not com- 
parable to those of the Stone 
Age, 224 

— ornament in cavity of a bone, 
162 

— causeways at Dumbuck, 188 
Stopes, Mr. Henry, on Clyde relics, 

178 
Strange relics, the, of the Clyde, 

129 
Strobel, Professor, on Breonio flints, 

61 
Siiidhe Chennaidh, fort of, 183 
Supernatural in civilisation, 7 
Survival of relics, 241, 244 
Symbolism, 241 

Tara Hill, excavations on, 281 
Tennant, Professor, and " Flint 

Jack," 115 
Tertiary man in California, 106, 

109 
Tiara of Saitapharnfes, 277 
Torwoodlee, date of broch at, 182 

— enamelled disc, 214 
"Tracked stone," from Dumbuck, 

140, 190 

— from Luing fort, 185 

— distribution of, 190 

— function of, 191 
Treasure-trove, State relation to, 

281 
Trenton gravels, flint implements 

of, 86 
Truth, article on bogus antiquities, 

275 



Ubaghs on Smeermaas viachoire, 

268 
Ugrian "idol" found on Dumbuck 

causeway, 256 
Urn, forgery of, 127 

Victoria Cave, Late Celtic relics, 200 
Volosova, Stone Age relics from, 
71-80 

— — compared with those of the 
Clyde, 73, 77 

Wakeman, Mr., on Lisnacroghera, 

205-8 
Watkins, Mr. W. T. , on penannular 

brooch, 214 
Wavre, W. , on Lacustrine forgeries, 

43-55 
Weapons, Clyde, peculiarities of, 222 
— ■ — worthless for use, 223 
"Well," so-called, at Dumbuck, 135 
Whitney, Professor James, on Cali- 

fornian gTavels, 90, 92 

— Calaveras skull, 97 
Wilderspool, penannular brooches, 

214 
Wilson, Thomas, on Breonio flints, 
61 

— on animal forms in flint, 80 

— on antiquity of man in America, 
%\ et seq. 

Woodcuts Common, penannular 

brooch, 214 
Wooden structures of Dumbuck, 135. 

138 

of Langbank, 145, 218 

Wright, Professor, on antiquity of 

man in America, 89 
Wymanw, Dr., on Calaveras skull, 99 

Yverdon, forgeries at, 46 



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